■(ll«i>»»M»>»»lfc*i>»Wif«Wl MMI I>(J» » I M i « ' W «i" '\ 









^» 


nnn 

15: 





i 



i 


'I 






K<^ 



'm 



HI 


1 


■n 


FGSSi 












Y 




i 


„„. 




JOHN S.C.ARE',OTT 



'LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 

# • - # 

* UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. | 



















;'i^i/.a;vj;'i?fti^>3s» 



^ 



Ferdinand De Soto, 



DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI 




JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. 



NEW YORK: 

DODD & MEAD, No. 762 BROADWAY. 
1873. 



AMERICAN PIONEERS AND PATRIOTS. 

\ . 

FERDINAND DE SOTO. 



THE 



DISCOYERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



.^ 



By JOHN sK:rABBOTT. 



I) 



ILLXISTRj^TBD. 



NEW YORK: /I ^ 
DODD & MEAD^No. 762 BROADWAY. 

1873- 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

DODD & MEAD, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



Lange, Little Sl Hillman, 



Wm. McCrea & Co., Stereotypers, printers, 

■«T 1. u XT ■ir 108 TO 114 Woostbr Street, N. Y. 

Newburgh, N. Y, ' 



PREFACE. 



Mr. Theodore Irving, in his valuable history of the 
"Conquest of Florida, " speaking of the astonishing 
achievements of the Spanish Cavaliers, in the dawn of the 
sixteenth century says : 

" Of all the enterprises undertaken in this spirit of 
daring adventure, none has surpassed, for hardihood and 
variety of incident, that of the renowned Hernando de 
Soto, and his band of cavaliers. It was poetry put in ac- 
tion. It was the knight-errantry of the old world carried 
into the depths of the American wilderness. Indeed the 
personal adventures, the feats of individual prowess, the 
picturesque description of steel-clad cavaliers, with lance 
and helm and prancing steed, glittering through the 
wildernesses of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the prairies 
of the Far West, would seem to us mere fictions of ro- 
mance, did they not come to us recorded in matter of fact 
narratives of contemporaries, and corroborated by minute 
and daily memoranda of eye-witnesses." 

These are the wild and wondrous adventures which I 
wish here to record. I have spared no pains in obtaining 
the most accurate information which the records of those 



IV PREFACE. 

da3's have transmitted to us. It is as wrong to traduce 
the dead as the living. If one should be careful not to 
write a line which dying he would wish to blot, he should 
also endeavor to write of the departed in so candid and 
paternal a spirit, while severely just to the truth of history, 
as to be safe from reproach. One who is aiding to form 
public opinion respecting another, who has left the world, 
should remember that he may yet meet the departed in the 
spirit land. And he may perhaps be greeted with the 
w^ords, " Your condemnation was too severe. You did not 
make due allowance for the limes in which I lived. You 
have held up my name to unmerited reproach." 

Careful investigation has revealed De Soto to me as by 
no means so bad a man as I had supposed him to have 
been. And I think that the candid reader will admit that 
there was much, in his heroic but melancholy career, which 
calls for charitable construction and sympathy. 

The authorities upon which I have mainly relied for 
my statements, are given in the body of the work. There 
is no country on the globe, whose early history is so full 
of interest and instruction as our own. The writer feels 
grateful to the press, in general, for the kindly spirit in 
which it has spoken of the attempt, in this series, to inter- 
est the popular reader in those remarkable incidents which 
have led to the establishment of this majestic republic. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Childhood and Youth. 

FAGS 

Birthplace of Ferdinand De Soto. — Spanish Colony at Darien. — 
Don Pedro de Avila, Governor of Darien. — Vasco Nunez. — 
Famine. — Love in the Spanish Castle. — Character of Isa- 
bella. — Embarrassment of De Soto. — Isabella's Parting 
Counsel. . . . . . . . • 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Tlie Spatiish Colony. 

Character of De Soto. — Cruel Command of Don Pedro. — Inci- 
dent. ^— The Duel. — Uracca. — Consternation at Darien. — 
Expedition Organized. — Uracca's Reception of Espinosa 
and Ms Troops. — The Spaniards Retreat. — De Soto Indig- 
nant. — Espinosa's Crueltj', and Deposition from Command. 21 

CHAPTER III. 
Life at Darien. 

Reinforcements from Spain. — Aid sent to Borrica. — Line of De- 
fense Chosen by the Natives. — Religion of the Buccaneers. — 
The Battle and the Rout. — Strategy of Uracca. — Cruelty of 
Don Pedro. — The Retreat. — Character of Uracca. — Embar- 
rassment of Don Pedro. — Warning of M. Codro. — Expedi- 
tion of Pizarro. — Mission of M. Codro. — Letter of De Soto 
to Isabella. . . . . . . -37 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Demoniac Reigtt, 

PAQE 

Giles Gonzales. — Unsuccessful Contest of De Soto with Gon- 
zales. — Bold Reply of De Soto to the Governor. — Cruelty of 
Don Pedro to M. Codro. — Assassination of Cordova. — New 
Expedition of Discovery. — Revenge upon Valenzuela. — 
Reign of Don Pedro at Nicaragua. — Unwise Decision of De 
Soto. ..... • . 55 

CHAPTER V. 

Tfie Invasion of Peru. 

The Kingdom of Peru. — Its Metropolis. — The Desperate Condi- 
tion of Pizarro. — Arrival of De Soto. — Character of the 
Spaniards. — Exploring Tour of De Soto. — The Colony at 
San Miguel. — The General Advance. — Second Exploration 
of De Soto. — Infamous Conduct of the Pizarros. . . 72 

CHAPTER VL 

The Atrocities of Fizarro. 

Fears of Pizarro. — Honorable Conduct of the Inca. — The March 
to Caxamarca. — Hospitable Reception. — Perfidious Attack 
upon the Inca. — His Capture and Imprisonment. — The 
Honor of De Soto. — The Offered Ransom. — Treachery and 
Extortion of Pizarro. . . . . . .90 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Execution of the Inca, and Embarrassments of 
De Soto. 

Pledges of Pizarro. — His Perfidy. — False Mission of De Soto. — 
Execution of the Inca. — His Fortitude. — Indignation of De 
Soto. — Great Embarrassments. — Extenuating Considerations. 
— Arrival of Almagro. — March Towards the Capital. . . 107 



CONTENTS. VU 

CHAPTER VIII. 
De Soto Returns to Spain. 

PAQI 

Dreadful Fate of Chalcukima. — His Fortitude. — Ignominy of Pi- 
zarro. — De Soto's Advance upon Cuzco. — The Peruvian High- 
way. — Battle in the Defile. — De Soto talces the Responsi- 
bility. — Capture of the Capital and its Conflagration. — De 
Soto's Return to Spain. — His Reception there. — Preparations 
for the Conquest of Florida. ..... 126 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Landing in Florida. 

The Departure from Spain. — Arrival in Cuba. — Leonora and To- 
bar. — Isabella Invested with the Regency. — Sad Life of Isa- 
bella. — Sailing of the Expedition. — The Landing at Tampa 
Bay. — Outrages of Narvaez. — Noble Spirit of Ucita. — Un- 
successful Enterprises. — Disgrace and Return of Porcallo. . 144 

CHAPTER X. 

The March to Ochile. 

The March Commenced. — The Swamps of Florida. — Passage of 
the Morass. — Heroism of Silvestre. — Message to Acuera. — 
His Heroic Reply. — Fierce Hostility of the Indians. — Enter 
the Town of Ocali. — Strange Incident. — Death of the Blood- 
hound. — Historical Discrepancies. — Romantic Entrance to 
Ochile. . . . . . . . .1^3 

CHAPTER XL 

The Conspiracy and its Consequences. 

The Three Brother Chieftains. — Reply of Vitachuco to his Bro- 
thers. — Feigned Friendship for the Spaniards. — The Conspir- 
acy, — Its Consummation and Results. — Clemency of De Soto. 
— The Second Conspiracy. — Slaughter of the Indians. — 
March of the Spaniards for Osachile. — Battle in the Moiass. 180 



Viil CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XII. 
Winter Quarters. 

PAGE 

Incidents of the March. — Passage of the River. — Entering Anha- 
yea. — Exploring Expeditions. — De Soto's desire for Peace. — 
Capture of Capifi. — His Escape. — Embarrassu-ents of De 
Soto. — Letter of Isabella. — Exploration (.f the Coast. — Dis- 
covery of the Bay of Pensacola. — Testimony Respecting Cofa- 
chiqui. — The March Resumed. .... 199 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Lost in the Wilderness. 

Incidents at Achise. — Arrival at Cofa. — Friendly Reception by 
Cofaqui. — The Armed Retinue. — Commission of Patofa. — 
Splendors of the March. — Lost in the Wilderness. — Peril of 
the Army. — Friendly Relations. — The Escape from the Wil- 
derness. — They Reach the Frontiers of Cofachiqui. — Dismis- 
sal of Patofa. — Wonderful Reception by the Princess of Cofa- 
chiqui. ........ 220 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Indian Princess. 

Crossing the River. — Hospitable Reception. — Attempts to visit 
the Queen Mother. — Suicide of the Prince. — Futile search for 
Gold. — The Discovery of Pearls. — The Pearl Fishery. — The 
Princess a Captive. — Held in Silken Chains. — Her Escape. 
— Location of Cutifachiqui. — The March Resumed. . . 240 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Dreadful Battle of Mobila. 

The Army in Alabama. — Barbaric Pageant. — The Chief of Tusca- 
loosa. — Native Dignity. — Suspected Treachery of the Chief. 
— Mobila, its Location and Importance. — Cunning of the 
Chief. — The Spaniards Attacked. — Incidents of the Battle. 
— Disastrous Results. ...... 259 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Days of Darkness. 

FAOS 

The Melancholy Encampment. — The Fleet at Pensacola. — Singu- 
lar Resolve of De Soto. — Hostility of the Natives. — Beautiful 
Scenery. — Winter Quarters on the Yazoo. — Feigned Friend- 
ship of the Cacique. — Trickery of Juan Ortiz. — The Teinible 
Battle of Chickasaw. — Dreadful Loss of the Spaniards. . 276 

CHAPTER XVII. 

TJie Discovery of the Mississippi. 

The Fortress of Hostile Indians. — Its Capture. — The Disastrous 
Conflict. — The Advance of the Army. — Discovery of the 
Mississippi River. — Preparations for Crossing. — Extraordi- 
nary Pageants. — Unjustifiable Attack. — The passage of the 
River. — Friendly Reception by Casquin. — Extraordinary Re- 
ligious Festival. ...... 296 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Vagrant Wanderifigs. 

Trickery of Casquin. — The March to Capaha. — The Battle and 
its Results. — Friendly Relations with Capaha. — The Return 
Journey. — The March Southward. — Salt Springs. — The 
Savages of Tulu. — Their Ferocity. — Anecdote. — Despond- 
ency of De Soto. ... . . 315 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Death of De Soto. 

Ascent of the Mississippi. — Revenge of Guachoya. — Sickness of 
De Soto. — Affecting Leave-taking. — His Death and Burial. — 
The March for Mexico. — Return to the Mississippi. — Descent 
of the River. — Dispersion of the Expedition. — Death of Isa- 
bella. . . . . . . . .334 



CHAPTER I. 

ChildJiood and Youth. 

Birthplace of Ferdinand De Soto. — Spanish Colony at Darien. — Don 
Pedro de Avila, Governor of Darien. — Vasco Nunez. — Famine. 
— Love in the Spanish Castle. — Character of Isabella. — Embar- 
rassment of De Soto. — Isabella's Parting Counsel. 

In the interior of Spain, about one hundred and 
thirty miles southwest of Madrid, there is the small 
walled town of Xeres. It is remote from all great 
routes of travel, and contains about nine thousand 
inhabitants, living very frugally, and in a state of 
primitive simplicity. There are several rude castles 
of the ancient nobility here, and numerous gloomy, 
monastic institutions. In one of these dilapidated 
castles, there was born, in the year 1 500, a boy, who 
received the name of Ferdinand de Soto. His par- 
ents were Spanish nobles, perhaps the most haughty 
class of nobility which has ever existed. It was, 
however, a decayed family, so impoverished as to 
find it difficult to maintain the position of gentility. 
The parents were not able to give their son a liberal 
education. Their rank did not allow them to intro- 



lO DE SOTO 

duce him to any of the pursuits of industry ; and so 
far as can now be learned, the years of his early 
youth were spent in idleness. 

Ferdinand was an unusually handsome boy. He 
grew up tall, well formed, and with remarkable mus- 
cular strength and agility. He greatly excelled in 
fencing, horseback riding, and all those manly exer- 
cises which were then deemed far more essential for 
a Spanish gentleman than literary culture. He was 
fearless, energetic, self-reliant ; and it was manifest 
that he was endowed with mental powers of much 
native strength. 

When quite a lad he attracted the attention of a 
wealthy Spanish nobleman, Don Pedro de Avila, who 
sent him to one of the Spanish universities, probably 
that of Saragossa, and maintained him there for six 
years. Literary culture was not then in high repute ; 
but it was deemed a matter of very great moment 
that a nobleman of Spain should excel in horseman- 
ship, in fencing, and in wielding every weapon of at- 
tack or defence. 

Ferdinand became quite renowned for his lofty 
bearing, and for all chivalric accomplishments. At 
the tournaments, and similar displays of martial 
prowess then in vogue, he was prominent, exciting 
the envy of competitive cavaliers, and winning the 
admiration of the ladies. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. II 

Don Pedro became very proud of his foster son, 
received him to his family, and treated him as though 
he were his own child. The Spanish court had at 
that time established a very important colony at the 
province of Darien, on the Isthmus of Panama. 
This isthmus, connecting North and South America, 
is about three hundred miles long and from forty to 
sixty broad. A stupendous range of mountains runs 
along its centre, apparently reared as an eternal bar- 
rier between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. From 
several of the summits of this ridge the waters of 
the two oceans can at the same time be distinctly 
seen. Here the Spanish court, in pursuit of its en- 
ergetic but cruel conquest of America, had estab- 
lished one of its most merciless colonies. There 
was gold among the mountains. The natives had 
many golden ornaments. They had no conception 
of the value of the precious ore in civilized lands. 
Readily they would exchange quite large masses of 
gold for a few glass beads. The great object of the 
Spaniards in the conquest of Darien was to obtain 
gold. They inferred that if the ignorant natives, 
without any acquaintance with the arts, had ob- 
tained so much, there must be immense quantities 
which careful searching and skilful mining would re- 
veal. 

The wanton cruelties practised by the Spaniards 



12 DE SOTO. 

upon the unoffending natives of these climes seem to 
have been as senseless as they were fiendlike. It is 
often difficult to find any motive for their atrocities. 
These crimes are thoroughly authenticated, and yet 
they often seem like the outbursts of dem'oniac ma- 
lignity. Anything like a faithful recital of them 
would torture the sensibilities of our readers almost 
beyond endurance. Mothers and maidens were 
hunted and torn down by bloodhounds ; infant chil- 
dren were cut in pieces, and their quivering limbs 
thrown to the famished dogs. 

The large wealth and the rank of Don Pedro de 
Avila gave him much influence at the Spanish court. 
He succeeded in obtaining the much-coveted ap- 
pointment of Governor of Darien. His authority 
was virtually absolute over the property, the liberty, 
and the lives of a realm, whose extended limits were 
not distinctly defined. 

Don Pedro occupied quite an imposing castle, his 
ancestral mansion, in the vicinity of Badajoz. Here 
the poor boy Ferdinand, though descended from fam- 
ilies of the highest rank, was an entire dependent 
upon his benefactor. The haughty Don Pedro 
treated him kindly. Still he regarded him, in conse- 
quence of his poverty, almost as a favored menial. 
He fed him, clothed him, patronized him. 

It was in the year 15 14 that Don Pedro entered 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 3 

upon his office of Governor of Darien. The insa- 
tiate thirst for gold caused crowds to flock to his 
banners. A large fleet was soon equipped, and more 
than two thousand persons embarked at St. Lucar for 
the golden land. The most of these were soldiers ; 
men of sensuality, ferocity, and thirst for plunder. 
Not a few noblemen joined the enterprise ; some to 
add to their already vast possessions, and others hop- 
ing to retrieve their impoverished fortunes. 

A considerable number of priests accompanied 
the expedition, and it is very certain that some of 
these at least were actuated by a sincere desire to do 
good to the natives, and to win them to the religion 
of Jesus : — that religion which demands that we 
should do to others as we would that others should 
do to us, and whose principles, the goverjior, the no- 
bles, and the soldiers, were ruthlessly trampling be- 
neath their feet. Don Pedro, when measured by the 
standard of Christianity, was proud, perfidious and 
tyrannical. The course he pursued upon his arrival 
in the country was impolitic and almost insane. 

His predecessor in the governorship was Vasco 
Nuiiez. He had been on the whole a prudent, able 
and comparatively merciful governor. He had en- 
tered into trade with the natives, and had so far se- 
cured their good will as to induce them to bring in 
an ample supply of provisions for his colony. He 



14 DE SOTO. 

had sent out Indian explorers, with careful instruc- 
tions to search the gold regions among the moun- 
tains. Don Pedro, upon assuming the reins of gov- 
ernment, became very jealous of the popularity of 
Nuiiez, whom he supplanted. His enmity soon be- 
came so implacable that, without any cause, he ac- 
cused him of treason and ordered him to be decapi- 
tated. The sentence was executed in the public 
square of Ada. Don Pedro himself gazed on the 
cruel spectacle concealed in a neighboring house. 
He seemed ashamed to meet the reproachful eye of 
his victim, as with an axe his head was cut off upon 
a block. 

All friendly relations with the Indians were 
speedily terminated. They were robbed of their 
gold, of their provisions, and their persons were out- 
raged in the most cruel manner. The natives, ter- 
ror-stricken, fled from the vicinity of the colony, and 
suddenly the Spaniards found all their supplies of 
provisions cut off More than two thousand were 
crowded into a narrow space on the shores of the 
gulf, with no possibility of obtaining food. They 
were entirely unprepared for any farming operations, 
having neither agricultural tools nor seed. Neither 
if they had them could they wait for the slow advent 
of the harvest. Famine commenced its reign, and 
with famine, its invariable attendant, pestilence. In 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 5 

less than six months, of all the glittering hosts, which 
with music and banners had landed upon the isth- 
mus, expecting soon to return to Europe with their 
ships freighted with gold, but a few hundred were 
found alive, and they were haggard and in rags. 

The Spaniards had robbed the Indians of their 
golden trinkets, but these trinkets could not be eaten 
and they would purchase no food. They were as 
worthless as pebbles picked from the beach. Often 
lumps of gold, or jewels of inestimable value, were 
offered by one starving wretch to another for a piece 
of mouldy bread. The colony would have become 
entirely extinct, but for the opportune arrival of ves- 
sels from Spain with provisions. Don Pedro had 
sent out one or two expeditions of half-famished men 
to seize the rice, Indian corn, and other food, wher- 
ever such food could be found. 

The natives had sufficient intelligence to perceive 
that the colonists were fast wasting away. The In- 
dians were gentle and amiable in character, and nat- 
urally timid ; with no taste for the ferocities of war. 
But emboldened by the miseries of the colonies, and 
beginning to despise their weakness, they fell upon 
the foraging parties with great courage and drove 
them back ignominiously to the coast. The arrival 
of the ships to which we have referred with provis- 



l6 DE SOTO. 

ions and reinforcements, alone saved the colony from 
utter extinction. 

Don Pedro, after having been in the colony five 
years, returned to Spain to obtain new acquisitions 
of strength in men and means for the prosecution of 
ever-enlarging plans of wealth and ambition. North 
and south of the narrow peninsula were the two ma- 
jestic continents of North and South America. 
They both invited incursions, where nations could 
be overthrown, empires established, fame won, and 
where mountains of gold might yet be found. 

It seems that De Soto had made the castle of 
Don Pedro, near Badajoz, his home during the ab- 
sence of the governor. There all his wants had 
been provided for through the charitable munifi- 
cence of his patron. He probably had spent his 
term time at the university. He was now nineteen 
years of age, and seemed to have attained the full 
maturity of his physical system, and had developed 
into a remarkably elegant young man. 

The family of Don Pedro had apparently remain- 
ed at the castle. His second daughter, Isabella, was 
a very beautiful girl in her sixteenth year. She had 
already been presented at the resplendent court of 
Spain, where she had attracted great admiration. 
Rich, beautiful and of illustrious birth, many noble- 
men had sought her hand, and among the rest, one 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 7 

of the princes of the blood royal. But Isabella and 
De Soto, much thrown together in the paternal cas- 
tle, had very naturally fallen in love with each other. 

The haughty governor was one day exceedingly 
astounded and enraged, that De Soto had the audac- 
ity to solicit the hand of his daughter in marriage. 
In the most contemptuous and resentful manner, he 
repelled the proposition as an insult. De Soto was 
keenly wounded. He was himself a man of noble 
birth. He had no superior among all the young no- 
blemen around him, in any chivalric accomplishment. 
The only thing wanting was money. Don Pedro 
loved-his daughter, was proud of her beauty and ce- 
lebrity, and was fully aware that she had a very de- 
cided will of her own. 

After the lapse of a few days, the governor was 
not a little alarmed by a statement, which the gover- 
ness of the young lady ventured to make to him. 
She assured him that Isabella had given her whole 
heart to De Soto, and that she had declared it to be 
her unalterable resolve to retire to a convent, rather 
than to become the wife of any other person. Don 
Pedro was almost fi"antic with rage. As totally de- 
void of moral principle as he was of human feelings, 
he took measures to have De Soto assassinated. 
Such is the uncontradicted testimony of contempo- 
rary historians. But every day revealed to him more 



1 8 DE SOTO. 

clearly the strength of Isabella's attachment for De 
Soto, and the inflexibility of her will. He became se- 
riously alarmed, not only from the apprehension that 
if her wishes were thwarted, no earthly power could 
prevent her from burying herself in a convent, but 
he even feared that if De Soto were to be assassina- 
ted, she would, by self-sacrifice, follow him to the 
world of spirits. This caused him to feign partial 
reconciliation, and to revolve in his mind more cau- 
tious plans for his removal. 

He decided to take De Soto back with him to 
Darien. The historians of those days represent that 
it was his intention to expose his young protege to 
such perils in wild adventures in the New World, as 
would almost certainly secure his death. De Soto 
himself, proud though poor, was tortured by the con- 
temptuous treatment which he received, even from 
the menials in the castle, who were aware of his re- 
jection by their proud lord. He therefore eagerly 
availed himself of the invitation of Don Pedro to 
join in a new expedition which he was fitting out for 
Darien. 

He resolved, at whatever sacrifice, to be rich. 
The acquisition of gold, and the accumulation of 
fame, became the great objects of his idolatry. With 
these he could not only again claim the hand of Isa- 
bella, but the haughty Don Pedro would eagerly seek 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 19 

the alliance of a man of wealth and renown. Thou- 
sands of adventurers were then crowding to the 
shores of the New World, lured by the accounts of 
the boundless wealth which it was said could there 
be found, and inspired by the passion which then 
pervaded Christendom, of obtaining celebrity by the 
performance of chivalric deeds. 

Many had returned greatly enriched by the plun- 
der of provinces. The names of Pizarro and Cortez 
had been borne on the wings of renown through all 
the countries of Europe, exciting in all honorable 
minds disgust, in view of their perfidy and cruelty, 
and inspiring others with emotions of admiration, in 
contemplation of their heroic adventures. 

De Soto was greatly embarrassed by his poverty. 
Both his parents were dead. He was friendless ; 
and it was quite impossible for him to provide himself 
with an outfit suitable to the condition of a Spanish 
grandee. The insulting treatment he had received 
from Don Pedro rendered it impossible for him to 
approach that haughty man as a suppliant for aid. 
But Don Pedro did not dare to leave De Soto behind 
him. The family were to remain in the ancestral 
home. And it was very certain that, Don Pedro be- 
ing absent, ere long he would hear of the elopement 
of Ferdinand and Isabella. Thus influenced, he 
offered De Soto a free passage to Darien, a captain's 



20 DE SOTO. 

commission with a suitable outfit, and pledged him- 
self that he should have ample opportunity of ac- 
quiring wealth and distinction, in an expedition he 
was even then organizing for the conquest of Peru. 
As Don Pedro made these overtures to the young 
^iian, with apparently the greatest cordiality, assum- 
ing that De Soto, by embarking in the all-important 
enterprise, would confer a favor rather than receive 
one, the offer was eagerly accepted. 

Don Pedro did everything in his power to pre- 
vent the two lovers from having any private inter- 
view before the expedition sailed. But the ingenu- 
ity of love as usual triumphed over that of avarice, 
Isabella and De Soto met, and solemnly pledged con- 
stancy to each other. It seems that Isabella thor- 
oughly understood the character of her father, and 
knew that he would shrink from no crime in the ac- 
complishment of his purposes. As she took her 
final leave of her lover, she said to him, very solemn- 
ly and impressively, 

" Ferdinand, remember that one treacherous 
friend is more dangerous than a thousand avowed 
enemies." 



CHAPTER II. 

The Spanish Colony. 

Character of De Soto. — Cruel Command of Don Pedro. — Incident. — 
The Duel. — Uracca. — Consternation at Darien. — Expedition Or- 
ganized. — Uracco's Reception of Espinosa and his Troops. — ■ 
The Spaniards Retreat. — De Soto Indignant. — Espinosa's Cruel- 
ty, and Deposition from Command. 

It was in the year 1 5 19, when the expedition sailed 
from St. Lucar for Darien. We have no account of 
the incidents which occurred during the voyage. 
The fleet reached Darien in safety, and the Spanish 
adventurers, encased in coats of mail, which the ar- 
rows and javelins of the natives could not pierce, 
mounted on powerful war horses, armed with mus- 
kets and cannon, and with packs of ferocious blood- 
hounds at their command, were all prepared to scat- 
ter the helpless natives before them, as the whirl- 
wind scatters autumnal leaves. 

De Soto was then but nineteen years of age. In 
stature and character he was a mature man. There 
are many indications that he was a young man of 
humane and honorable instincts, shrinking from the 
deeds of cruelty and injustice which he saw every- 



22 DE SOTO. 

where perpetrated around him. It is' however prob- 
able, that under the rigor of miUtary law, he at times 
felt constrained to obey commands from which his 
kindly nature recoiled. 

Don Pedro was a monster of cruelty. He gave 
De Soto command of a troop of horse. He sent him 
on many expeditions which required not only great 
courage, but military sagacity scarcely tx) be expect- 
ed in one so young and inexperienced. It is how- 
ever much to the credit of De Soto, that the annal- 
ists of those days never mentioned his name in con- 
nection with those atrocities which disgraced the 
administration of Don Pedro. He even ventured at 
times to refuse obedience to the orders of the gov- 
ernor, when commanded to engage in some service 
which he deemed dishonorable. 

One remarkable instance of this moral and phys- 
ical intrepidity is on record. Don Pedro had deter- 
mined upon the entire destruction of a little village 
occupied by the natives. The torch was to be ap- 
plied, and men, women and children, were to be put 
to the sword. Don Pedro had issued such a com- 
mand as this, with as much indifference as he would 
have placed his foot upon an anthill. It is not im- 
probable that one of the objects he had in view was 
to impose a revolting task upon De Soto, that he 
might be, as it were, whipped into implicit obedience. 



THE SPANISH COLONY. 23 

He therefore sent one of the most infamous of his 
captains to De Soto with the command that he 
should immediately take a troop of horse, proceed to 
the doomed village, gallop into its peaceful and de- 
fenceless street, set fire to every dwelling, and with 
their keen sabres, cut dovvn every man, woman and 
child. It was a deed fit only for demons to execute. 
De Soto deemed himself insulted in being ordered 
on such a mission. This was not war, — it was butch- 
ery. The defenceless natives could make no resist- 
ance. Indignantly and heroically he replied : 

" Tell Don Pedro, the governor, that my life and 
services are always at his disposal, when the duty to 
be performed is such as may become a Christian and 
a gentleman. But in the present case, I think the 
governor would have shown more discretion by en- 
trusting you. Captain Perez, with this commission, 
instead of sending you with the order to myself" 

This reply Captain Perez might certainly regard 
as reflecting very severely upon his own character, 
and as authorizing him to demand that satisfaction 
which, under such circumstances, one cavalier expects 
of another. He however carried the message to the 
governor. Don Pedro was highly gratified. He saw 
that a duel was the necessary result. Captain Perez 
was a veteran soldier, and was the most expert 
swordsman in the army. He was famed for his quar- 



24 t)E SOTO. 

relsome disposition ; had already fought many duels, 
in which he had invariably killed his man. In a ren- 
contre between the youthful De Soto and the veter- 
an Captain Perez, there could be no doubt in the 
mind of the governor as to the result. He therefore 
smiled very blandly upon Captain Perez, and said in 
language which the captain fully understood : 

" Well, my friend, if you, who are a veteran sol- 
dier, can endure the insolence of this young man, 
De Soto, I see no reason why an infirm old man like 
myself should not show equal forbearance." 

Captain Perez was not at all reluctant to take the 
hint. It was only giving him an opportunity to add 
another to the list of those who had fallen before his 
sword. The challenge was immediately given. De 
Soto's doom was deemed sealed. Duels in the Span- 
ish army were fashionable, and there was no moral 
sentiment which recoiled in the slightest degree from 
the barbaric practice. 

The two combatants met with drawn swords in 
the presence of nearly all the officers of the colonial 
army, and of a vast concourse of spectators. The 
stripling De Soto displayed skill with his weapon 
which not only baffled his opponent, but which ex- 
cited the surprise and admiration of all the on-look- 
ers. For two hours the deadly conflict continued, 
without any decisive results. De Soto had received 



THE SPANISH COLONY. 2$ 

several trifling wounds^ while his antagonist was un- 
harmed. At length, by a fortunate blow, he inflicted 
such a gash upon the right wrist of Perez, that his 
sword dropped from his hand. As he attempted to 
catch it with his left hand, he stumbled and fell to the 
ground. De Soto instantly stood over him with his 
sword at his breast, demanding that he should ask 
for his life. The proud duellist, thus for the flrst 
time in his life discomfited, was chagrined beyond en- 
durance. In sullen silence, he refused to cry for 
mercy. De Soto magnanimously returned his sword 
to its scabbard, saying: "The life that is not worth 
asking for, is not worth taking." 

He then gracefully bowed to the numerous spec- 
tators and retired from the field, greeted with the en- 
thusiastic acclaim of all who were present. This 
achievement gave the youthful victor prominence 
above any other man in the army. Perez was so hu- 
miliated by his defeat, that he threw up his commis- 
sion and returned to Spain. Thus the New World 
was rid of one of the vilest of the adventurers who 
had cursed it. 

The region of the peninsula, and the adjoining 
territory of South America, were at that time quite 
densely populated. The inhabitants seem to have 
been a happy people, not fond of war, and yet by no 
means deficient in bravery. The Spanish colonists 



26 DE SOTO. 

were but a handful among them. But the war horse, 
bloodhounds, steel coats of mail and gunpowder, 
gave them an immense, almost resistless superiority. 

There was at this time, about the year 1521, an 
Indian chief by the name of Uracca, who reigned 
over quite a populous nation, occupying one of the 
northern provinces of the isthmus. He was a man 
of unusual intelligence and ability. The outrages 
which the Spaniards were perpetrating roused all his 
energies of resentment, and he resolved to adopt des- 
perate measures for their extermination. He gath- 
ered an army of twenty thousand men. In that warm 
climate, in accordance with immemorial usage, they 
went but half clothed. Their weapons were mainly 
bows, with poisoned arrows ; though they had also 
javelins and clumsy swords made of a hard kind of 
wood. 

The tidings of the approach of this army excited 
the greatest consternation at Darien. A shower of 
poisoned arrows from the strong arms of twenty thou- 
sand native warriors, driven forward by the energies 
of despair, even these steel-clad adventurers could 
not contemplate without dread. The Spaniards had 
taught the natives cruelty. They had hunted them 
down with bloodhounds ; they had cut off their hands 
with the sword ; they had fed their dogs with their 
infants ; had tortured them at slow fires and cast 



THE SPANISH COLONY, 27 

their children into the flames. They could not ex- 
pect that the natives could be more merciful than the 
Spaniards had been. 

Don Pedro, instead of waiting the arrival of his 
foes, decided to assail the army on its march, hoping 
to take it by surprise and to throw consternation into 
the advancing ranks. He divided his army of attack 
into two parties. One division of about one hundred 
men, he sent in two small vessels along the western 
coast of the isthmus, to invade the villages of Urac- 
ca, hoping thus to compel the Indian chief to draw 
back his army for the defence of his own territories. 
This expedition was under the command of General 
Espinosa. 

The main body of the Spanish troops, consisting 
of about two hundred men, marched along the east- 
ern shore of the isthmus, intending eventually to ef- 
fect a junction with the naval force in the realms of 
the foe. The energetic, but infamous Franc sco Pi- 
zarro, led these troops. A very important part of 
his command consflfced of a band of dragoons, thirty 
or forty in number, under the leadership of De Soto. 
His steel-clad warriors were well mounted, with hous- 
ings which greatly protected their steeds from the 
arrows of the natives. 

The wary Indian chieftain, who developed during 
the campaign military abilities of a high order, had 



28 DE SOTO. 

his scouts out in all directions. They discerned in 
the distant horizon the approach of the two vessels, 
and swift runners speedily reported the fact to Urac- 
ca. He immediately marched with a force in his 
judgm nt sufficiently strong to crush the invaders, 
notwithstanding their vast superiority in arms. 

The Spaniards entered a sheltered bay skirted by 
a plain, which could be swept by their guns, and 
where the Indian warriors would have no opportunity 
to hide in ambush. Uracca allowed the Spaniards 
to disembark unopposed. He stationed his troops, 
several thousand in number, in a hilly country, several 
leagues distant from the place of landing, which was 
broken with chasms and vast boulders, and covered 
with tropical forest. Here every Indian could fight 
behind a rampart, and the Spaniards could only ap- 
proach in the scattered line of skirmishers. The 
proud Spaniards advanced in their invading march 
with as much of war's pageantry as could be assumed. 
They hoped that nodding pluntes. and waving ban- 
ners, and trumpet peals, would l^ike with conster- 
nation the heart of the Indians. 

Uracca calmly awaited their approach. His men 
were so concealed that Espinosa could form no judg- 
ment of their numbers or position. Indeed he was 
scarcely conscious that there was any foe there who 
would venture to oppose his march. Accustomed as 



THE SPANISH COLONY. 29 

he was to ride rough shod over the naked Indians, 
he was emboldened by a fatal contempt for the prow- 
ess of his foe. Uracca allowed the Spaniards to be- 
come entangled in the intricacies of rocks and gul- 
lies and gigantic forest trees, when suddenly he 
opened upon them such a shower of poisoned arrows 
as the Spaniards had never encountered before. The 
touch of one of these arrows, breaking the skin, 
caused immediate and intense agony, and almost cer- 
tain death. The sinewy arms of the Indians could 
throw these sharp-pointed weapons with almost the 
precision and force of a bullet, and with far greater 
rapidity than the Spaniards could load and fire their 
muskets. 

Espinosa found himself assailed by a foe out- 
numbering him ten or twenty to one. The air was 
almost darkened with arrows, and every one was 
thrown with unerring aim. The rout of the Span- 
iards was almost instantaneous. Several were killed, 
many wounded. In a panic, they turned and fled 
precipitately from^he trap in which they had been 
caught. The natives impetuously pursued, showing 
no quarter, evidently determined to exterminate the 
whole band. 

It so happened that De Soto, with his dragoons, 
had left Pizarro's band, and in a military incur- 
sion into the country, was approaching the bay 



30 DE SOTO. 

where Espinosa had landed his troops. Suddenly the 
clamor of the conflict burst upon his ear — the shouts 
of the Indian warriors and the cry of the fugitive 
Spaniards. His little band put spurs to their horses 
and hastened to the scene of action. Very great 
difficulties impeded their progress. The rugged 
ground, encumbered by rocks and broken by ravines, 
was almost impassable for horsemen. But the energy 
of De Soto triumphed over these obstacles, even when 
the bravest of his companions remonstrated and hesi- 
tated to follow him. At length he reached the open 
country over which the Spaniards were rushing to 
gain their ships, pursued by the Indians in numbers 
and strength which seemed to render the destruction 
of the Spaniards certain. 

The natives stood in great dread of the horses. 
When they saw the dragoons, glittering in their steel 
armor, come clattering down upon the plain, their 
pursuit was instantly checked. Espinosa, thus unex- 
pectedly reinforced, rallied his panic-stricken troops, 
and in good order continued the retreat to the .ships. 
De Soto with his cavalry occupied the post of danger 
as rear-guard. The Indians cautiously followed, 
watching for every opportunity which the inequalities 
of the ground might offer, to assail the invaders with 
showers of arrows. Occasionally De Soto would 
halt and turn his horses' heads towards the Indians. 



THE SPANISH COLONY. 3 1 

Apprehensive of a charge, they would then fall 
back. The retreat was thus conducted safely, but 
slowly. 

The Spaniards had advanced many leagues from 
the shores of the Pacific. They were now almost 
perishing from hunger and fatigue. Indian bands 
were coming from all directions to reinforce the na- 
tive troops. The sun was going down and night was 
approaching. All hearts were oppressed with the 
greatest anxiety. Just then Pizarro, with his two 
hundred men, made his appearance. He had not 
been far away, and a courier having informed him of 
the peril of the Spaniards, he hastened to their relief. 
Night with its gloom settled down over the plain, and 
war's hideous clamor was for a few hours hushed. 
The morning would usher in a renewal of the battle, 
under circumstances which caused the boldest hearts 
in the Spanish camp to tremble. 

In the night Generals Espinosa and Pizarro held a 
council of war, and came to the inglorious resolve to 
steal away under the protection of darkness, leaving 
Uracca in undisputed possession of the field. This 
decision excited the indignation of De Soto. He 
considered it a disgrace to the Spanish arms, and de- 
clared that it would only embolden the natives in all 
their future military operations. His bitter remon- 
strances were only answered by a sneer from General 



32 DE SOTO. 

Espinosa, who assured him that the veteran captains 
of Spain would not look to his youth and inexperi- 
ence for guidance and wisdom. 

At midnight the Spaniards commenced their re- 
treat as secretly and silently as possible. But they 
had a foe to deal with who was not easily to be de- 
ceived. His scouts were on the alert, and immediate 
notice was communicated to Uracca of the move- 
ments of the Spaniards. The pursuit was conducted 
with as much vigor as the flight. For eight and forty 
hours the fugitives were followed so closely, and with 
such fierce assailment, that large numbers of the 
rank and file perished. The officers and the dragoons 
of De Soto, wearing defensive armor, generally es- 
caped unharmed. The remnant at length, weary and 
famine-stricken, reached their ships and immediately 
put to sea. With the exception of De Soto's dra- 
goons, they numbered but fifty men. Deeply despon- 
dent in view of their disastrous campaign, they sailed 
several leagues along the western coast of the isth- 
mus towards the south, till they reached a flourishing 
Indian village called Borrica. Conscious that here 
they were beyond the immediate reach of Uracca's 
avenging forces, they ventured to land. They found 
all the men absent. They were probably in the ranks 
of the native army. 

General Espinosa, who was now chief in com- 



THE SPANISH COLONY. 33 

mand, meanly sacked the defenceless village and 
captured all the women and children, to be sent to 
the West Indies and sold as slaves. The generous 
heart of De Soto was roused by this outrage. He 
was an imperious man, and was never disposed to be 
very complaisant to his superiors. Sternly the young 
captain rebuked Espinosa as a kidviapper, stealing 
the defenceless ; and he demanded that the prisoners 
should be set at liberty. An angry controversy en- 
sued. De Soto accused Espinosa of cowardice and 
imbecility, in ordering the troops of Spain to retreat 
before naked savages. Espinosa, whose domineering 
spirit could brook no opposition, accused De Soto of 
mutinous conduct, and threatened to report him to 
the governor. De Soto angrily turned his heel upon 
his superior officer and called upon his troops to 
mount their horses. Riding proudly at their head, he 
approached the tent of Espinosa and thus addressed 
him : 

" Senor Espinosa, the governor did not place me 
under your command, and you have no claim to my 
obedience. I now give you notice, that if you retain 
these prisoners so cruelly and unjustly captured, you 
must do so at your own risk. If these Indian war- 
riors choose to make any attempt to recover their 
wives and their children, I declare to you upon 
my solemn oath, and by all that I hold most sacred, 



34 DE SOTO. 

that they shall meet with no opposition from me. 
Consider, therefore, whether you have the power 
to defend yourself and secure your prey, when 
I and my companions have withdrawn from this 
spot." 

Pizarro does not seem to have taken any active 
part in this dispvite, though he advised the headstrong 
Espinosa to give up his captives. While these scenes 
were transpiring, about one hundred of the men of 
the village returned. Most earnestly they en- 
treated the release of their wives and children. 
If not peacefully released, it was pretty evident 
that they would fight desperately for their res- 
cue. It was quite apparent that the Indian runners 
had gone in all directions to summon others to their 
aid. The withdrawal of De Soto left Espinosa so 
weakened that he could hardly hope successfully to 
repel such forces. Indeed he was so situated that, 
destitute of provisions and ammunition, he did not 
dare to undertake a march back through the wilder- 
ness to Darien. He therefore very ungraciously 
consented to surrender his captives. 

Governor Don Pedro had established his head- 
quarters at Panama. De Soto, accompanied by a 
single dragoon, who like himself was an admirable 
horseman, rode with the utmost possible dispatch to 
Panama, where he informed the governor of the dis- 



THE SPANISH COLONY. 35 

asters which had befallen the expedition, and of 
the precarious condition in which he had left the 
remnant of the troops. He also made such represen- 
tation of the military conduct of General Espinosa as 
to induce the governor to remove him from the com- 
mand and send General Herman Ponce to take his 
place. The garrison at Panama was then so weak 
that only forty men could be spared to go to the re- 
lief of the troops at Borrica. 

In the mean time the Indian chief Uracca had 
received full information of the position and condition 
of the Spanish troops. Very sagaciously he formed 
his plan to cut off their retreat. Detachments of 
warriors were placed at every point through which 
they could escape ; they could not venture a league 
from their ramparts on any foraging expedition, and 
no food could reach them. They obtained a misera- 
ble subsistence from roots and herbs. 

At length De Soto returned with a fresh fupply 
of ammunition and the small reinforcement. By the 
aid of his cavalry he so far broke up the blockade as 
to obtain food for the famishing troops. Still it was 
very hazardous to attempt a retreat to Panama. 
With the reinforcements led by General Ponce, their 
whole army, infantry and cavalry, amounted to less 
than one hundred and fifty men. They would be 



36 DE SOTO. 

compelled on their retreat to climb mountains, plunge 
into ragged ravines, thread tropical forests and nar- 
row defiles, where armies of uncounted thousands of 
natives were ready to dispute their passage. 



CHAPTER III. 

Life at Darien. 

Reinforcements from Spain. — Aid sent to Borrica. — Line of Defense 
Chosen by the Natives. — Religion of the Buccaneers. — The Bat- 
tle and the Rout. — Strategy of Uracca. — Cruelty of Don Pedro. — 
The Retreat. — Character of Uracca. — Embarrassment of Don 
Pedro. — Warning of M. Codro. — Expedition of Pizarro. — Mission 
of M. Codro. — Letter of De Soto to Isabella. 

While governor Don Pedro was awaiting with in- 
tense anxiety the receipt of intelligence from Bor- 
rica, a ship arrived from Spain bringing three or 
four hundred adventurers, all of whom were eager 
for any military expedition which would open to them 
an opportunity for plunder. One hundred and fifty 
of these were regular soldiers, well taught in the 
dreadful trade of war. Don Pedro took these fresh 
troops and one hundred and fifty volunteers, and set 
out with the utmost expedition for Borrica. His im- 
petuous nature was inspired with zeal to retrieve the 
disgrace which had befallen the Spanish arms. He 
took with him several pieces of ordnance, — guns 
with which the Indians thus far had no acquaintance. 

Upon arriving at Borrica he very earnestly har- 
angued his troops, reminding them of the ancient re- 



38 DE SOTO. 

nown of the Spanish soldiers, and stimulating their 
cupidity by the assurance that the kingdom of Ver- 
agua, over which Uracca reigned, was full of gold ; 
and that all that was now requisite for the conquest 
of the country and the accumulation of princely 
wealth, was a display of the bravery ever character- 
istic of Spanish troops. 

There was a deep and rapid river, the Arva, rush- 
ing down from the mountains, which it was necessary 
for the Spaniards to cross in their renewed invasion 
of Veragua. On the northern banks of this stream 
Uracca stationed his troops, selecting this spot with 
much skill as his main line of defence. He however 
posted an advanced guard some miles south of the 
stream in ground broken by hills, rocks and ravines, 
through which the Spaniards would be compelled to 
pass, and where their cavalry could be of very little 
avail. 

By great effort Don Pedro had collected an 
army of about five hundred men. Rapidly march- 
ing, he soon reached the spot of broken ground 
where the native troops were stationed awaiting their 
approach. 

It seems almost incomprehensible that this band 
of thieves and murderers, who, without the slightest 
excuse or provocation, were invading the territory of 
the peaceful natives, carrying to their homes death 



LIFE AT DARIEN. 39 

and woe, that they might acquire fame for military 
exploits and return laden with plunder, could have 
looked to God for his blessing upon their infamous 
expedition. But so it was. And still more strange 
to say, they did not apparently engage ifl these religi- 
ous services with any consciousness of hypocrisy. 
The thoughtful mind is bewildered in contemplating 
such developments of the human heart. Previous to 
the attack the whole army was drawn up for prayers, 
which were solemnly offered by the ecclesiastics who 
always accompanied these expeditions. Then every 
soldier attended the confessional and received abso- 
lution. Thus he felt assured that, should he fall in 
the battle, he would be immediately translated to the 
realms of the blest. 

Thus inspired by military zeal and religious fa- 
naticism, the Spaniards rushed upon the natives in a 
very impetuous assault. We are happy to record 
that the natives stood nobly on the defence. They 
met their assailants with such a shower of arrows 
and javelins that the Spaniards were first arrested 
in their march, then driven back, then utterly routed 
and put to flight. In that broken ground where the 
cavalry could not be brought into action, where every 
native warrior stood behind a tree or a rock, and 
where the natives did not commence the action till 
the Spaniards were within half bow shot of them, ar- 



40 DE SOTO. 

rows and javelins were even more potent weapons of 
war than the clumsy muskets then in use. 

Upon the open field the arrows of the natives 
were quite impotent. A bullet could strike the heart 
at twice or three times the distance at which an ar- 
row could be thrown. The Spaniards, hotly pursued, 
retreated from this broken ground several miles back 
into the open plain. Many were slain. Here the 
rout was arrested by the cavalry and the discharges 
from the field-pieces, which broke the Indian ranks. 

The natives, however, boldly held their ground, 
and the Spaniards, disheartened and mortified by their 
discomfiture, encamped upon the plain. It was very 
evident that God had not listened to their prayers. 

For several days they remained in a state of un- 
certainty. For five hundred Spaniards to retreat be- 
fore eight hundred natives, would inflict a stigma 
upon their army which could never be effaced. They 
dared not again attack the natives who were flushed 
with victory in their stronghold. They were well 
aware that the band of warriors before them was but 
the advanced guard of the great army of Uracca. 
These eight hundred natives were led by one of 
Uracca's brothers. Even should these Indians be 
attacked and repulsed, they had only to retreat a few 
miles, cross the river Arva in their canoes, and on 
the northern banks join the formidable army of twen- 



LIFE AT DARIEN. 4I 

ty thousand men under their redoubtable chief, who 
had already displayed military abilities which com- 
pelled the Spaniards to regard him with dread. 

Affairs were in this position when Uracca adopted 
a stratagem which completely deceived the Spaniards 
and inflicted upon them very serious loss. He caused 
several of his warriors to be taken captive. When 
closely questioned by Don Pedro where gold was to 
be found, and threatened with torture if they refused 
the information, they with great apparent reluctance 
directed their captors to a spot, at the distance of but 
a few leagues, where the precious metal could be ob- 
tained in great abundance. These unlettered sav- 
ages executed their artifice with skill which would 
have done honor even to European diplomatists. 

Don Pedro immediately selected a company of 
forty of his most reliable men and sent them to the 
designated spot. Here they were surrounded by In- 
dian warriors in ambush, and the whole party, with 
the exception of three, put to death. The three who 
escaped succeeded in reaching the Spanish camp 
with tidings of the disaster. Don Pedro in his rage 
ordered his captives to be torn to pieces by the blood- 
hounds. They were thrown naked to the dogs. The 
Spaniards looked on complacently, as the merciless 
beasts, with bloody fangs, tore them limb from limb, 
devouring their quivering flesh. The natives bore 



42 DE SOTO. 

this awful punishment with fortitude and heroism, 
which elicited the admiration of their foes. With 
their last breath they exulted that they were permit- 
ted to die in defence of their country. 

The expedition of Don Pedro had thus far proved 
an utter failure. He had already lost one-fourth of 
his army through the prowess of the natives. The 
prospect before him was dark in the extreme. His 
troops were thoroughly discouraged, and the difficul- 
ties still to be encountered seemed absolutely insur- 
mountable. Humiliated as never before, the proud 
Don Pedro was compelled to order a retreat. He 
returned to Panama, where, as we have mentioned, 
he had removed his seat of government from Darien. 
Panama was north of Darien, or rather west, as the 
isthmus there jruns east and west. Its seaport was 
on the Pacific, not the Atlantic coast. 

Uracca, having thus rescued his country from the 
invaders, did not pursue the retreating Spaniards. 
He probably in this course acted wisely. Could Don 
Pedro have drawn his enemies into the open field, he 
could undoubtedly have cut down nearly their whole 
army with grape shot, musketry, and charges by his 
strongly mounted steel-clad cavaliers. A panic had 
however pervaded the Spanish camp. They were in 
constant apprehension of pursuit. Even when they 
had reached Panama, they were day after day in in- 



LIFE AT DARIEN. 43 

tense apprehension of the approach of their outnum- 
bering foes, by whose valor they had already been 
discomfited, and so greatly disgraced. 

"When the Spaniards looked out towards the 
mountains and the plains," writes the Spanish histo- 
rian Herrera, " the boughs of trees and the very grass, 
which grew high in the savannas, appeared to their 
excited imagination to be armed with Indians. And 
when they turned their eyes towards the sea, they 
fancied that it was covered with canoes of their ex- 
asperated foemen." 

Uracca must have been in all respects an extra- 
ordinary man. We have the record of his deeds 
only from the pen of his enemies. And yet accord- 
ing to their testimony, he, a pagan, manifested far 
more of the spirit of Christ than did his Christian 
opponents. In the war which he was then waging, 
there can be no question whatever that the wrong 
was inexcusably and outrageously on the side of Don 
Pedro. We cannot learn that Uracca engaged in 
any aggressive movements against the Spaniards 
whatever. He remained content with expelling the 
merciless intruders from his country. Even the fiend- 
like barbarism of the Spaniards could not provoke 
him to retaliatory cruelty. The brutal soldiery of 
Spain paid no respect whatever to the wives and 
daughters of the natives, even to those of the high- 
est chieftains. 



44 DE SOTO. 

On one occasion a Spanish lady, Donna Clara 
Albitez, fell into the hands of Uracca. He treated 
her with as much delicacy and tenderness as if she 
had been his own daughter or mother, and availed 
himself of the first opportunity of restoring her to 
her friends. 

Though De Soto was one of the bravest of his cav- 
aliers, and was so skilful as an officer that his services 
were almost indispensable to Don Pedro, yet the gov- 
ernor was anxious to get rid of him. It is probable 
that he felt somewhat condemned by the undeniable 
virtues of De Soto ; for the most of men can feel the 
power of high moral principle as witnessed in others. 
De Soto, intensely proud, was not at all disposed to 
play the sycophant before his patron. He had al- 
ready exasperated him by his refusal to execute or- 
ders which he deemed dishonorable. And worst of 
all, by winning the love of Isabella, he had thwarted 
one of the most ambitious of Don Pedro's plans ; he 
having contemplated her alliance with one of the 
most illustrious families of the Spanish nobility. 

Don Pedro did not dare to send De Soto to the 
scaffold or to order him to be shot. He had already 
braved public opinion by the outrageous execution of 
Vasco Nuiiez, without a shadow of law or justice, 
and had drawn down upon himself an avalanche of 
condemnation from the highest dignitaries of both 



LIFE AT DARIEN. 45 

church and state. He was trembling through fear 
that the Spanish government might call him to ac- 
count for this tyrannic act. Thus situated, it was 
highly impolitic to send De Soto, who was greatly 
revered and admired by the army, to the block. He 
therefore still sought, though with somewhat waning 
zeal, to secure the death of De Soto on the field of 
battle. De Soto could not fail to perceive that Don 
Pedro was not his friend. Still, being a magnanimous 
man himself, he could not suspect the governor of 
being guilty of such treachery as to be plotting his 
death. 

When the little army of Spaniards was beleaguered 
at Borrica, and De-Soto with his cavalry was scour- 
ing the adjacent country on foraging expeditions, he 
chanced to rescue from captivity M. Codro, an Ital- 
ian philosopher, who had accompanied the Spaniards 
to Darien. In the pursuit of science, he had joined 
the fo ty men who, under the command of Herman 
Ponce, had been sent as a reinforcement to Borrica. 
While at some distance from the camp on a botanical 
excursion, he was taken captive by the natives, and 
would have been put to death but for the timely res- 
cue by De Soto. 

M. Codro was an astrologer. In that supersti- 
tious age he was supposed by others, and probably 
himself supposed, that by certain occult arts he was 



46 DE SOTO. 

able to predict future events. Six months after the 
return of the Spaniards from their disastrous expe- 
dition against Uracca, this singular man sought an 
interview with De Soto, and said to him ; 

" A good action deserves better reward than ver- 
bal acknowledgment. While it was not in my power 
to make any suitable recompense to, you for saving 
my life, I did not attempt to offer you any. But the 
time has now come when I can give you some sub- 
stantial evidence of my gratitude. I can now inform 
you that your life is now in no less danger than mine 
was when you rescued me from the Indians." 

De Soto replied : " My good friend, though I do 
not profess to be a thorough believer in your pro- 
phetic art, I am no less thankful for your kind inten- 
tions. And in this case, I am free to confess that 
your information, from whatever source derived, is 
confirmed in a measure by my own observations." 

" Ferdinand De Soto," said the astrologer with 
great deliberation and solemnity of manner, " I think 
I can read the page of your destiny, even without 
such light as the stars can shed upon it. Be assured 
that the warning I give you does not come from an 
unearthly source. But if any supernatural confirma- 
tion of my words were needed, even on that score 
you might be satisfied. While comparing your horo- 
scope with that of my departed friend Vasco Nunez, 



LIFE AT DARIEN, 47 

I have observed some resemblances in your lives and 
fortunes, which you, with all your incredvility, must 
allow to be remarkable. Nuiiez and you were both 
born in the same town ; were both members of noble 
but impoverished families ; both sought to ally your- 
selves with the family of Don Pedro, and both thus 
incurred his deadly resentment." 

" These coincidences are certainly remarkable," 
replied De Soto ; " but what other similarities do you 
find in the destinies of Nunez and myself .-^ " 

'* You are a brave man," replied M. Codro, " and 
you are too skeptical to be much disturbed by the 
prognostications of evil. I may therefore venture to 
tell you that according to my calculations, you will be 
in one important event of your life more happy than 
Vasco Nunez. It seems to be indicated by the su- 
perior intelligences, that your death will not be in the 
ordinary course of nature ; but I find likewise that 
the term of your life will be equal to that which Nu- 
nez attained. When I consider your present circum- 
stances, this appears to me to be the most improba- 
ble part of the prediction." 

Nunez was forty-two years old at the time of his 
death. This gave De Soto the promise of nearly 
twenty years more of life. Reverently he replied, " I 
am in the hands of God. I rely with humble confi- 
dence on his protection." 



48 DE SOTO. 

" In that you do well," rejoined M. Codro. " Still 
it is your duty to use such human means as may be 
required to defend yourself against open violence or 
fraudful malice." 

De Soto thanked the astrologer for the caution he 
had given him, and as he reflected upon it, saw that 
it was indeed necessary to be constantly on his guard. 
As time passed on Don Pedro became more undis- 
guised in his hostility to De Soto. Ferdinand and 
Isabella exerted all their ingenuity to correspond 
with each other. Don Pedro had been equally vigi- 
lant in his endeavors to intercept their letters ; and 
so effectual were the plans which he adopted, that 
for five years, while the lovers remained perfectly 
faithful to each other, not a token of remembrance 
passed between them. 

These were weary years to De Soto. He was 
bitterly disappointed in all his expectations. There 
was no glory to be obtained even in victory, in riding 
rough-shod over the poor natives. And thus far, in- 
stead of victory attending the Spanish arms, defeat 
and disgrace had been their doom. Moreover, he was 
astonished and heartily ashamed when he saw the 
measures which his countrymen had adopted to en- 
rich themselves. They were highway robbers of the 
most malignant type. They not only slaughtered the 
victims whom they robbed, but fired their dwellings, 



LIFE AT DARIEN. • 49 

trampled down their harvests and massacred their 
wives and children. 

The most extravagant tales had been circulated 
through Europe respecting the wealth of the New 
World. It was said that masses of pure gold could 
be gathered like pebble stones from the banks of the 
rivers, and that gems of priceless value were to be 
found in the ravines. De Soto had been now five 
years on the isthmus of Darien, and had acquired 
neither fame nor fortune, and there was nothing in 
the prospect of the future to excite enthusiasm or 
even hope. 

There was quite a remarkable man, made so by 
subsequent events, under the command of Don Pe- 
dro. His name was Francisco Pizarro. He was a 
man of obscure birth and of very limited education, 
save only in the material art of war. He could neither 
read nor write, and was thus intellectually hardly the 
equal of some of the most intelligent of the natives. 
We have briefly alluded to him as entrusted with the 
command of one portion of the army in the inglori- 
ous expedition against Uracca. De Soto had very 
little respect for the man, and was not at all disposed 
as a subordinate officer to look to him for counsel. 
Don Pedro, however, seems to have formed a high 
opinion of the military abilities of Pizarro. For not- 
withstanding his ignominious defeat and retreat from 



50 DE SOTO. 

Veragua, he now appointed him as the leader of an 
expedition, consisting of one hundred and thirty men, 
to explore the western coast of the isthmus by cruis- 
ing along the Pacific Ocean. 

Pizarro set sail from Panama on the fourteenth of 
November, 1524, in one small vessel. It was intend- 
ed that another vessel should soon follow to render 
such assistance as" might be necessary. De Soto was 
urged to become one of this party ; but probably 
from dislike of Pizarro, refused to place himself under 
his command. 

The vessel, which was soon joined by its consort 
under Almagro, coasted slowly along in a northerly 
direction, running in at every bay, and landing when- 
ever they approached a flourishing Indian village, 
plundering the natives and maltreating them in every 
shameful way. At length they aroused such a spirit 
of desperation on the part of the nativ^es, that they 
fell upon the buccaneers with resistless ferocity. 
Two-thirds of the miscreants were slain. Pizarro 
barely escaped with his life, having received severe 
wounds and being borne to his ship in a state of in- 
sensibility. 

While Pizarro was absent on this ill-fated expe- 
dition, a new trouble befell Don Pedro. Las Casas, 
a devoted Christian missionary, whose indignation 
was roused to the highest pitch by the atrocities per- 



LIFE AT DARIEN. 5 1 

petrated upon the Indians, reported the inhuman 
conduct of Don Pedro to the Spanish government. 
The King appointed Peter de Los Rios to succeed 
him. The new governor was to proceed immediately 
to Panama and bring the degraded official to trial, 
and, if found guilty, to punishment. The governor of 
a Spanish colony in those days was absolute. Don 
Pedro had cut off the head of his predecessor, though 
that predecessor was one of the best of men. He 
now trembled in apprehension of the loss of his own 
head. Conscious of his deserts, he was terror- 
stricken. 

About four or five hundred miles north of Pana- 
ma there was the magnificent province of Nicaragua. 
The isthmus is here about one hundred and fifty 
miles in breadth, and the province being about two 
hundred miles in a line from north to south, extended 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores. Don Pedro 
was popular with his brutal soldiery, since he allowed 
them unlimited license and plunder. He resolved, 
surrounded by them, to take refuge in Nicaragua. 
Nevertheless, to render himself as secure as possible, 
he decided to send an agent to plead his cause at the 
Spanish court. 

Among those rude, unprincipled adventurers, men 
of violence and blood, it was very difficult to find a 
suitable person. At length he fixed with much hesi- 



52 DE SOTO. 

tation upon M. Codro, the astrologer. He was a 
simple-minded, good man ; learned, though very art- 
less. M. Codro was strongly attached to De Soto, 
the preserver of his life. As we have seen, he was 
well aware of the peril to which his benefactor was 
hourly exposed from the malignity of the governor. 
Gladly therefore he accepted the mission, as he 
hoped it would afford him an opportunity of confer- 
ring some favor upon his imperilled friend. 

Don Pedro had adopted the most rigorous m-eas- 
ures to prevent any communication between the col- 
ony and Spain, which was not subjected to his inspec- 
tion. He was mainly influenced to this course that 
he might prevent the interchange of any messages 
whatever between De Soto and Isabella. The most 
severe penalties were denounced against all persons 
who should convey any writing across the seas, ex- 
cepting through the regular mails. But the grateful 
M. Codro declared himself ready to run all risks in 
carrying a letter from De Soto to Isabella. Though 
De Soto at first hesitated to expose his friend to 
such hazard, his intense desire to open some commu- 
nication with Isabella, at length induced him to ac- 
cept the generous offer. 

As we have mentioned, for five years not one 
word had passed between the lovers. It is said that 
the following is a literal translation of the letter which 



LIFE AT DARIEN. 53 

De Soto wrote. We cannot be certain of its authen- 
ticity, but it bears internal evidence of genuineness, 
and a manuscript copy is in the Hbrary of a Spanish 
gentleman who has spent his life in collecting docu- 
ments in reference to the past history of his country ? 

" Most Dearly Beloved Isabella : 

*' For the first time within five years, I write to 
you with some assurance that you will receive my let- 
ter. Many times have I written before ; but how 
could I write freely when I had reason to fear that 
other eyes might peruse those fond expressions which 
your goodness and condescension alone could par- 
don ? But what reason have I to hope that you can 
still look with favorable regard on my unworthiness .'' 
My mature judgment teaches me that this dream of 
my youth, which I have so long cherished, is not pre- 
sumption merely, but madness. 

"When I consider your many perfections, and 
compare them with my own little deserving, I feel 
that I ought to despair, even if I could empty into 
your lap the treasure of a thousand kingdoms. How 
then can I lift my eyes to you when I have nothing 
to offer but the tribute of an affection which time 
cannot change, and which must still live when my 
last hope has departed. 

" O Isabella ! the expectation which brought me 



54 DE SOTO. 

to this land has not been fulfilled. I can gather no 
gold, except by such means as my honor, my con- 
science and yourself must condemn. Though your 
nobleness may pity one on whom fortune has disdain- 
ed to smile, I feel that your relations are justified in 
claiming for you an alliance with exalted rank and 
affluence ; and I love you far too well to regard my 
own happiness more than your welfare. If, therefore, 
in your extreme youth you have made a promise 
which you now regret, as far as it is in my power to 
absolve you from that engagement, you are released. 
On my side, the obligation is sacred and eternal. It 
is not likely that I shall ever return to my country. 
While I am banished from your presence, all countries 
are alike to me. 

" The person who brings you this exposes him- 
self to great danger in his desire to serve me. I en- 
treat you to use such precautions as his safety may 
require. If your goodness should vouchsafe any 
message to me, he will deliver it, and you may have 
perfect confidence in his fidelity. Pardon my bold- 
ness in supposing it possible that I still have a i)lace 
in your remembrance. Though you may now think 
of me with indifference or diiiikj, do not censure me 
too severely for calling myself unchangeably and de- 
votedly, Yours, De Soto." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Demoniac Reign. 

Giles Gonzales. — Unsuccessful Contest of De Soto with Gonzales. — 
Bold Reply of De Soto to the Governor. — Cruelty of Don Pedro 
to M. Codro. — Assassination of Cordova. — New Expedition of 
Discovery. — Revenge upon Valenzuela. — Reign of Don Pedro at 
Nicaragua. — Unwise Decision of De Soto. 

It was supposed at that time that there must be 
a strait somewhere north of Panama across the nar- 
row isthmus, which would connect the waters of the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Several expeditions had 
been fitted out in search of this all-important passage. 
Almost invariably a company of priests joined these 
expeditions, who exerted all their energies to convert 
the Indians to nominal Christianity. A fanatic ad- 
venturer by the name of Giles Gonzales, acquired 
much celebrity for his success in inducing the na- 
tives to accept the Christian faith and to acknowledge 
fealty to the king of Spain. He was at the head of 
one hundred steel-clad warriors. His mode of per- 
suasion, though unique, was very potent. When he 
approached the seat of the chief of Nicaragua, he 
sent a courier to him with the following message : 



56 DE SOTO. 

" I am coming as a friend to teach you the only 
true religion, and to persuade you to recognize the 
most powerful monarch on the globe. If you refuse 
to yield to my teachings, you must prepare for battle, 
and I challenge you to meet me in the field." 

The gentle and peace-loving natives contempla- 
ted with consternation these fierce Spaniards mount- 
ed on powerful war horses, animals which they had 
never before seen, and glittering in coats of mail. 
They had no religious creed to which they adhered 
with any tenacity. The Nicaraguan chief unhesi- 
tatingly expressed his readiness to accept the new 
faith, and in token of friendship, sent Gonzales a 
quantity of gold, equal it is said in value to seventy- 
five thousand dollars of our money. The Spanish 
historian Herrera, whose record is generally deemed 
in the main accurate, says that the chief, his family, 
and nine thousand of his subjects, were baptized and 
became Christians. Influenced by this example, and 
by the glowing representations of the rewards which 
were sure to follow the acceptance of the Christian 
faith, more than thirty-six thousand of the natives 
were baptized within the space of half a year. The 
baptismal fees charged by Gonzales amounted to over 
four hundred thousand dollars. 

While Gonzales was engaged on his own respon- 
sibility in this career of spiritual conquest, with its 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 57 

rich pecuniary accompaniment, Don Pedro sent two 
of his generals, Ferdinand de Cordova and Ferdi- 
nand De Soto, to explore Nicaragua and take pos- 
session of it in his name. He assumed that Gonzales, 
acting without authority, was engaged in a treasona- 
ble movement. The two parties soon came into col- 
lision. 

De Soto, with a party of fifty men, twenty of 
them being well mounted cavaliers, encamped at a 
small village called Torebo. Gonzales was in the 
near vicinity with a little army of three hundred men, 
two hundred of whom were Indians. In the darkness 
of the night, Gonzales fell upon De Soto, and out- 
numbering him six to one, either killed or took cap- 
tive all the thirty footmen ; while the cavaliers, on their 
horses, cut their way through and escaped. Gon- 
zales lost fifty of his best men in the conflict, and 
was so impressed with the military vigor of De Soto, 
that he was not at all disposed again to meet him on 
the field of battle. He therefore retired to a distant 
part of the province, where he vigorously engaged in 
the work of converting the natives, never forgetting 
his baptismal fee. 

De Soto and Cordova, established themselves in 
a new town which they called Grenada. Here they 
erected a church, several dwelling houses, and bar- 
racks for the soldiers. They also surrounded tlie vil- 
3* 



58 DE SOTO. 

lage with a trench and earthworks, as protection from 
any sudden assault. Gonzales was a fugitive from 
justice, having assassinated an officer sent by Her- 
nando Cortes to arrest him. 

Cordova was a mild and humane man. Under 
his sway the Indians were prosperous and happy. 
Two flourishing towns grew up rapidly quite near 
each other, Leon and Grenada. The climate was 
delightful, the soil fertile, the means of living abun- 
dant. Many of the inhabitants of Panama emigrated 
to this more favored region. 

De Soto, leaving -Cordova in command of Nicara- 
gua, returned to Panama to report proceedings to 
Don Pedro. It was not till then that he learned, to 
his extreme regret, that the Governor had selected 
Nicaragua as a place for his future abode. He knew 
that the presence of the tyrannical governor could 
only prove disastrous to the flourishing colony, and 
ruinous to the happiness of the natives. The gloom 
with which the contemplation oppressed his mind 
spread over his speaking countenance. The eagle 
eye of the suspicious governor immediately detected 
these indications of discontent. With an air of defer- 
ence, but in a tone of mockery, he said : 

"I judge from your appearance, captain, that my 
Nicaraguan enterprise does not meet with your cor- 
dial approbation." 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 59 

De Soto boldly, and with great deliberation of 
words, replied: 

" Governor Don Pedro, I confess that I feel but 
little interested in any of your movements or inten- 
tions, except when they encroach upon the rights of 
others. Nicaragua is at this time Avell governed by 
Ferdinand de Cordova. The change you propose to 
make, is to be deprecated as one of the greatest mis- 
fortunes that could befall not only the Indian inhabi- 
tants of that district, but our own countrymen like- 
wise, who have flocked thither to escape from your 
jurisdiction." 

The countenance of Don Pedro became pallid 
with rage. Struggling, however, to suppress the un- 
availing outburst of his passion, he said, with a ma- 
lignant smile : 

" I thank you, Captain De Soto, for giving me this 
opportunity which I have so long desired. Were I 
to permit such insolence to go unpunished, my au- 
thority in this colony would soon be at an end." 

" It is at an end," replied De Soto. " You must 
be aware that your successor, De Los Rios, is now 
on his way to Panama." 

" I do not choose," replied Don Pedro, " to debate 
this matter with you. I still claim the right to com- 
mand you as your superior military officer. I now 
command you to hold yourself and your company in 



6o DE SOTO. 

readiness to march. When we arrive at Leon, I 
promise you that full justice shall be done to your 
friend De Cordova, and to yourself." 

De Soto fully comprehended the significance of 
these threats. He wrote immediately to Cordova, 
urging him to be on his guard. The inhabitants of 
Leon and Grenada, learning of the intention of Don 
Pedro, — to take the government into his own hands, 
— entreated De Cordova to resist the tyrant, promis- 
ing him their unanimous and energetic support. But 
De Cordova declined these overtures, saying, that all 
the authority to which he was legitimately entitled 
was derived from Don Pedro, and that it was his 
duty to obey him as his superior officer, until he 
should be deposed by the Spanish crown. 

Just before Don Pedro, with his suite, left Panama 
for Nicaragua, M. Codro returned from Spain. He 
brought dispatches to the governor, and also secret- 
ly a letter from Isabella to De Soto. The spies of 
the governor, in his castle in Spain, watched every 
movement of M. Codro. The simple minded man 
had very little skill in the arts of duplicity. These 
spies reported to Don Pedro that M. Codro had 
held a secret interview with Isabella, and had frank- 
ly stated that he was entrusted with a private mes- 
sage to her. Don Pedro knew that such a mes- 
sage could have gone only from De Soto ; and that 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 6 1 

unquestionably M. Codro had brought back from his 
daughter a response. We may remark in passing, 
that the letter from Isabella to De Soto informed 
him of the inflexible fidelity of Isabella, and filled the 
heart of De Soto with joy. 

The malignant nature of Don Pedro was roused 
by these suspicions to intensity of action, and he re- 
solved upon direful revenge. As the new governor 
was hourly expected, he could not venture upon any 
open act of assassination or violence, for he knew 
that in that case summary punishment would be his 
doom. Calling M. Codro before him, he assumed 
his blandest smile, thanked the artless philosopher 
for the services he had rendered him in Spain, and 
said that he wished to entrust him with the manage- 
ment of a mineralogical survey of a region near the 
gulf of San Miguel. 

The good man was delighted. This was just the 
employment which his nature craved. He was di- 
rected to embark in a vessel commanded by one of 
the governor's tools, an infamous -wretch by the 
name of De Valenzuela. This man had been for 
many years a private, and was then engaged in kid- 
napping Indians for the slave trade. He was order- 
ed as soon as the vessel was at sea, to chain M. 
Codro to the foremast, to expose him to all the tor- 
tures of the blaze of a tropical sun by day and chil- 



62 DE SOTO. 

ling dews by night. The crew were enjoined to as- 
sail him with insulting mockery. Thus exposed to 
hunger, burning heat, and incessant abuse, he was 
to be kept through these lingering agonies until he 
died. 

For ten days the good man bore this cruel 
martyrdom, when he breathed his last, and was 
buried on a small island about a hundred miles 
southwest of Panama. This brutal assassination was 
so conducted, that De Soto at the time had no 
knowledge of the tragedy which was being enacted. 

Early in the year 1526, Don Pedro, surrounded 
by a large retinue of his obedient soldiery, left Pana- 
ma to assume the government of Nicaragua, to which 
he had no legitimate title. De Soto accompanied 
the governor. Much as he detested his character, 
he could not forget that he was the father of Isa- 
bella. When Don Pedro approached the little town 
of Leon, he sent a courier before him, to order De 
Cordova to meet him in the public square, with his 
municipal officers and his clergy, prepared to give 
an account of his administration. 

De Soto with his horsemen was .ordered to form 
in line -on one side of the square. The foot soldiers 
of Don Pedro surrounded the governor on the other 
side. All the vacant space was filled with citizens 
and natives. By the side of the governor stood his 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 63 

executioner ; a man of gigantic stature and of hercu- 
lean strength, whose massive sword few arms but his 
could wield. De Cordova advanced to meet Don Pe- 
dro, and bowing respectfully before him, commenced 
giving an account of the state of affairs in the prov- 
ince. Suddenly he was interrupted in his narrative 
by Don Pedro, who with forced anger exclaimed ; 

" Silence, you hypocrite ! Your treasonable pro- 
jects cannot be hidden under these absurd preten- 
sions of loyalty and patriotism : I will now let your 
accomplices see how a traitor should be punished." 

He made a sign to his executioner. His gleam- 
ing sword flashed through the air, and in an instant 
the dissevered head of Cordova rolled in the dust. 
The headsman grasped the gory trophy by the hair, 
and raising it high above his head exclaimed, 

^^ Behold the doom of a traitor ^^ 

All this took place in an instant. The specta- 
tors were horror stricken. De Soto instinctively seiz- 
ed his sword, and would doubtless have put spurs to 
his horse, rushed upon the governor, and phmged 
the weapon to the hilt in his breast, but for the re- 
straining memories of the past. Hesitatingly he 
returned his sword to its scabbard. 

But Don Pedro had not yet finished the contem- 



64 IJE SOTO. 

plated work of the day. Another victim he had 
doomed to fall. A file of soldiers, very resolute men, 
led by a determined officer, crossing the square, ap- 
proached De Soto, at the head of his troops. Don 
Pedro then exclaimed in a loud voice, 

" Ferdinand De Soto, you are ordered to dis- 
mount and submit yourself to the punishment which 
you have just seen inflicted on your traitorous com- 
rade. Soldiers ! drag him from his horse if he refuse 
to obey." 

The officer reached forth his hand to seize De 
Soto. Like lightning's flash, the sword of the cav- 
alier fell upon the officer, and his head was cleft from 
crown to chin. The spurs were applied to the fiery 
steed. He plunged through the soldiers, knocking 
several of them down, and in an instant De Soto had 
his sword's point at the breast of the governor. 
Shouts of " kill the tyrant," rose from all parts of the 
square, which were echoed even from the ranks of 
Don Pedro's soldiers. Again De Soto held back his 
avenging hand ; but in words which made Don Pedro 
quake in his shoes, he said, 

" You hear the expression of public sentiment. 
You hear the wishes of those who are subject to your 
authority. It is the voice of justice speaking through 
these people. In refusing to obey the call, I am 
scarcely less guilty than yourself. But remember, 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 65 

Don Pedro, that in sparing your life at- this moment, 
I discharge all the obligations I have owed you. 
Miserable old man ! Be thankful that the recollection 
of one that is absent, can make me forget what I owe 
to my murdered friend. 

" I will now sheathe my sword, but I solemnly de- 
clare by the sacred emblem of the cross which it 
bears, that I will never draw it again in your ser- 
vice." 

The assassination, for it could hardly be called 
execution, of De Cordova, excited the general indig- 
nation of the Spanish settlers. They all knew that 
Don Pedro had no authority from the king of Spain 
to assume the government of Nicaragua, and that he 
was therefore an usurper. The noble character which 
De Soto had exhibited, and his undeniable ability and 
bravery, had won for him universal regard. The Span- 
iards generally rallied around him, and entreated him 
to assume the command, promising him their enthu- 
siastic support. They could not comprehend why De 
Soto so persistently refused their solicitations. They 
knew nothing of the secret reasons which rendered it 
almost impossible for De Soto to draw his sword 
against the father of Isabella. 

As we have mentioned, it was generally supposed 
that there must be some strait between the Isthmus 
of Darien and the southern frontiers of Mexico, which 



66 DE SOTO. 

connected the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. The king of Spain had offered a large re- 
ward for the discovery of this passage. Several of the 
wealthy citizens of Leon organized an expedition in 
pursuit of this object. De Soto was placed at its 
head. He selected, from his cavalry troop, five of his 
most intelligent and energetic young men. They 
started from Leon, and followed along the coast of 
the Pacific, in northwesterly course, penetrating every 
bay and inlet. They travelled on horseback and en- 
countered innumerable difficulties from the rugged 
and pathless wilderness, through which they pressed 
their way. They also had much to fear from the un- 
friendly character of the natives, whose hostility had 
been aroused by the outrages which companies of 
vagabond Spaniards had inflicted upon them. 

De Soto, however, and his companions, by their 
just and kindly spirit, soon won the regards of the 
Indians, They found that the natives possessed large 
quantities of gold, which they seemed to esteem of 
little value. Eagerly they exchanged the precious 
metal for such trinkets as the explorers took with 
them. Upon this arduous expedition, which De 
Soto managed with consummate skill, he was absent 
eleven months. Seven hundred miles of sea-coast 
were carefully explored, and he became fully con- 
vinced that the looked-for strait did not exist. 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 6/ 

Though in this respect the expedition had proved a 
failure, he returned to Leon quite enriched by the 
gold which he had gathered. With honesty, rarely 
witnessed in those days, he impartially divided the 
treasure among the projectors of the enterprise. 

As De Soto was returning, he discovered a small 
Spanish vessel anchored near the present site of 
San Salvador. As his men and horses were worn 
down by their fatiguing journey, he engaged a pas- 
sage in the vessel to Leon. Upon embarking he 
found the captain and crew consisted of some of the 
most depraved and brutal men who had ever visited 
the New World. They were cruising along the 
coast, watching for opportunity to kidnap the natives, 
to convey them to the West Indies as slaves. The 
captain was the infamous Valenzuela, who, as agent 
of Don Pedro, had tortured M. Codro to death. 

De Soto had no knowledge, as we have mentioned, 
of the dreadful doom which had befallen his friend. 
One day the fiendlike captain was amusing his crew 
with a recital of his past deeds of villany. He told 
the story of the murder of Codro. 

" He was," he said, " an old wizard whom Don 
Pedro, the governor of Panama, commissioned me to 
torture and to put to death, in consequence of some 
treachery of which he had been guilty while on a 
mission to Spain. 



68 DE SOTO. 

The words caught the ear of De Soto. He join- 
ed the group, and Hstened with breathless attention 
and a throbbing heart, to the statement of Valen- 
zuela. 

" I chained the old fellow," said the captain, " to 
the mainmast, and the sailors amused themselves by 
drenching him with buckets of cold water, till he 
was almost drowned. After several days, he became 
so sick and exhausted, that we saw that our sport 
would soon be at an end. For two days he was 
speechless. He then suddenly recovered the use of 
his voice, and endeavored to frighten me by saying : 

" Captain, your treatment has caused my death. 
I now call upon you to hear the words of a dying 
man. Within a year from this time, I summon you 
to meet me before the judgment seat of God." 

Here the captain burst into a derisive and scorn- 
ful laugh. He then added : 

" Come comrades, we'll have a hamper of wine, 
and drink to the repose of M. Codro's soul." 

De Soto stepped forward, and repressing all ex- 
ternal exhibition of the rage which consumed his 
soul, said calmly to the captain 

" You say that the astrologer prophesied that 
you should die within the year. When will that year 
expire .-" " 

" In about two weeks," the captain replied. " But 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 69 

I have no fear but that the prophet will prove to be 
a liar." 

" He shall not," De Soto added. And drawing 
from his scabbard his keen, glittering sword, with 
one blow from his sinewy arm, severed the captain's 
head from his body. The ghastly trophy rolled 
gushing with blood upon the deck. These wild and 
savage men were accustomed to such scenes. They 
admired the courage of De Soto, and the marvellous 
skill with which, at one blow, he had struck oft' the 
head of the captain. De Soto then turned to the 
crowd and said : 

" Gentlemen, if any of you are disposed to hold 
me accountable for what I have just done, I am ready 
to answer you according to your desires. But I con- 
sider myself bound, in reason and in courtesy, to in- 
form you, that M. Codro, the man whom this villain 
murdered, was my friend ; and I doubt not that he 
was condemned to death for doing me an important 
service." 

All seemed satisfied with this explanation. These 
sanguinary scenes in those days produced but a mo- 
mentary impression. 

De Soto and Don Pedro no longer held any inter- 
course with each other. The reign of the usurping 
governor was atrocious beyond the power of lan- 
guage to express. With horses and bloodhounds he 



yo DE SOTO. 

ran down the natives, seizing and selling them as 
slaves. Droves of men, women and children, chained 
together, were often driven into the streets of Leon. 

The assumption then was that a nominal Christian 
might pardonably inflict any outrages upon those who 
had not accepted the Christian faith. Several of the 
Indian chiefs had embraced Christianity. Don Pedro 
compelled them all to pay him a tribute of fifty slaves 
a month. All orphans were to be surrendered as 
slaves. And then the wretch demanded that all 
parents who had several children, should surrender 
one or more, as slaves to the Spaniards. The natives 
were robbed of their harvests, so that they had no 
encouragement to cultivate the soil. This led to 
famine, and more than twenty thousand perished of 
starvation. Famine introduced pestilence. The good 
Las Casas declares that in consequence of the oppres- 
sions of the Spaniards, in ten years, more than si.xty 
thousand of the natives of Nicaragua perished. 

About this time Francisco Pizarro had embarked 
in a hair-brained enterprise for the conquest of Peru, 
on the western coast of South America. Very slowly 
he had forced his way along, towards that vast empire, 
encountering innumerable difficulties, and enduring 
frightful sufterings, until he had reached a point where 
his progress seemed to be arrested. His army was 
greatly weakened, and he had not sufficient force to 



DEMONIAC REIGN. 7I 

push his conquests any farther. Threatened with the 
utter extermination of his band, he remembered De 
Soto, whom he had never loved. He knew that he 
was anxious for fame and fortune, and thouglit that 
his bravery and great military ability might extricate 
him from his embarrassments. 

He therefore wrote to Don Pedro, praying that 
De Soto, with reinforcements, might be sent to his aid. 
For three years there had been no communication 
whatever between the governor and the lover of his 
daughter. But Don Pedro regarded the adventure of 
Pizarro as hazardous in the extreme, and felt sure 
that all engaged in the enterprise would miserably 
perish. Eagerly he caught at the idea of sending De 
Soto to join them ; for his presence was to Don Pedro 
a constant source of annoyance and dread. He there- 
fore caused the communication from Pizarro to be 
conveyed to De Soto, saying to the messenger who 
bore it : 

" Urge De Soto to depart immediately for Peru. 
And I pray Heaven that we may never hear of him 
again." 

De Soto, not knowing what to do with himself, im- 
prudently consented, and thus allied his fortunes with 
those of one of the greatest villains of any age or 
country. 



CHAPTER V. 
TJic Invasion of Peru. 

The Kingdom of Peru. — Its Metropolis. — The Desperate Condition 
of Pizarro. — Arrival of De Soto. — Character of the Spaniards. — 
Exploring tour of De Soto. — The Colony at San Miguel. — The 
General Advance. — Second Exploration of De Soto. — Infamous 
Conduct of the Pizarros. 

The kingdom of Peru, skirting the western coast 
of South America, between the majestic peaks of the 
Andes and the mirrored waters of the Pacific Ocean, 
was one of the most beautiful countries in the world. 
This kingdom, diversified with every variety of scen- 
ery, both of the sublime and the beautiful, and enjoy- 
ing a delicious climate, was about eighteen hundred 
miles in length and one hundred and fifty in breadth. 
The natives had attained a high degree of civilization. 
Though gunpowder, steel armor, war horses, and 
blood-hounds gave 'the barbarian Spaniards the su- 
premacy on fields of blood, the leading men, among 
the Peruvians, seem to have been in intelligence, hu- 
manity and every virtue, far superior to the savage 
leaders of the Spaniards, who so ruthlessly invaded 
their peaceful realms. 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 73 

The metropolis of the empire was the city of 
Cuzo, which was situated in a soft and luxuriant val- 
ley traversing some table-lands which were about 
twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea. The 
government of the country was an absolute mon- 
archy. But its sovereign, called the Inca, seems to 
have been truly a good man, the father of his people; 
wisely and successfully seeking their welfare. The 
Peruvians had attained a degree of excellence in 
many of the arts unsurpassed by the Spaniards. 
Their houses were generally built of stone ; their 
massive temples, though devoid of architectural beau- 
ty, were constructed of hewn blocks of granite, so ad- 
mirably joined together that the seams could be with 
difficulty discerned. 

Humbolt found, among the ruins of these temples, 
blocks of hewn stone thirty-six feet long, nine feet 
wide, and six feet in thickness. Their great high- 
ways, spanning the gulfs, clinging to the precipitous 
cliffs and climbing the mountains, were wonderful 
works of mechanical skill. 

De Soto was .thoroughly acquainted with the 
cruel, faithless, and treacherous character of Pizarro. 
A stigma must ever rest upon his name, for consent- 
ing to enter into any expedition under the leadership 
of such a man. It may however be said, in reply, 
that he had no intention of obeying Pizarro in any 
4 



74 DE SOTO. 

thing that was wrong ; that his love of adventure was 
roused by the desire to explore one of the most mag- 
nificent empires in the New World, which rumor had 
invested with wealth and splendor surpassing the 
dreams of romance. And perhaps, most important 
of all, he hoped ho7iestly to be able to gather from 
the fabled mines of gold, with which Peru was said 
to be filled, that wealth with which he would be en- 
abled to return to Spain and claim the hand, as he 
had already won the heart, of the fair and faithful 
Isabella. 

Pizarro had entered upon his enterprise with an 
army of one hundred and eighty men, twenty-seven 
of whom were mounted. It seems to be the uncon- 
tradicted testimony of contemporary historians, that 
this army was composed of as worthless a set of vag- 
abonds as ever disgraced humanity. There was no 
crime or cruelty from which these fiends in human 
form would recoil. 

Pizarro, following down the western coast of 
South America five or six hundred miles, had reach- 
ed the island of Puna, in the extreme northern part 
of Peru. It was separated from the mainland by a 
narrow strait. The inhabitants received him cor- 
dially, but the murders, rapine and other nameless 
atrocities, perpetrated by the Spaniards upon the 
friendly natives, soon so aroused their resentment 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 75 

that a conspiracy was formed for the entire exterm- 
ination of the invaders. The expedition had become 
so weakened and demoraUzed that even Pizarro saw 
that it would be the height of imprudence for him to 
venture, with his vile crew, upon the mainland, be- 
fore reinforcements under some degree of military 
discipline should arrive. He was in this precarious 
condition, and on the eve of extermination, when De 
Soto and his select and well-ordered troops reached 
the island. 

They came in two vessels, bringing with them an 
abundant supply of arms and ammunition. The party 
consisted of fifty men, thoroughly equipped. Thirty 
of them were steel - clad cavaliers, well mounted. 
De Soto bad been offered the rank of second in 
command. But when he arrived at Puna, he found 
that Pizarro's brother — Hernando — occupied this 
post, and that he had no intention of relinquishing it. 
De Soto reproached Pizarro in very plain terms for 
this wrong and insult. He however did not allow it 
long to trouble him. Surrounded by his own brave 
and devoted followers, he felt quite independent of 
the authority of Pizarro, and had no intention of 
obeying him any farther than might be in, accordance 
with his own wishes. 

On the other hand, Pizarro had but little confi- 
dence in his brother, and was fully conscious that the 



76 DE SOTO. 

success of his enterprise would be mainly dependent 
upon the energy and skill of De Soto. 

Pizarro,now finding himself at the head of really a 
formidable force, prepared to pass over to the main- 
land. There was quite a large town there called 
Tumbez, surrovuided by a rich and densely popidat- 
ed country. The Peruvians had gold in abundance, 
and weapons and utensils of copper. With iron and 
steel, they were entirely unacquainted. As when 
fighting at a distance, the bullet of the Spaniard was 
immeasurably superior to the arrow of the native, so 
in a hand to hand fi^ht, the keen and glittering sabre 
of steel, especially in the hands of steel-clad cava- 
liers left the poorly armed Peruvians almost entirely 
at their mercy. 

Arrangements were made to cross the strait and 
make a descent upon Tumbez. Pizarro had already 
visited the place, where he had been kindly received 
by the inhabitants, and where he had seen with his 
own eyes that the houses and temples were dec- 
orated with golden ornaments, often massive in 
weight, and of almost priceless value. He floated 
his little band across the narrow strait on rafts. 

The inhabitants of Tumbez and "its vicinity had 
been disposed to receive their Spanish visitors as 
guests, and to treat them with the utmost courtesy 
and kindness. But the tidings had reached them of 



THE INVASION OP PERU. 77 

the terrible outrages which they had inflicted upon 
the inhabitants of Puna. They therefore attacked 
the Spaniards as they approached the shore on their 
rafts and endeavored to prevent their landing. But 
the invaders, with musketry and a cannon which they 
had with them, speedily drove off their assailants, and 
with horses and hounds planted their banners upon 
the shore. They then marched directly upon Tum- 
bez, confident of gathering, from the decorations of 
her palaces and her temples, abounding wealth. Bit- 
ter was their disappointment. The Peruvians, con- 
scious of their probable inability to resist the invaders, 
had generally abandoned the city, carrying with them, 
far away into the mountains, all their treasures. 

The Spaniards, who had entered the city with 
hideous yells of triumph, being thus frustrated in the 
main object of their expedition, found, by inquiry, 
that at the distance of several leagues easterly from 
the sea-coast, among the pleasant valleys of the moun- 
tains, there were populous cities, where abundance 
of booty might be found. 

The whole number of Spaniards, then invading 
Peru, did not exceed two hundred and fifty. The 
Peruvians were- daily becoming more deeply exas- 
perated. With such a number of men, and no forti- 
fied base to fall back upon, Pizarro did not deem it 
safe to enter upon a plundering tour into the interior. 



78 DE SOTO. 

Keeping therefore about one hundred and thirty 
men with him, and strongly fortifying himself at 
Tumbez, he sent De Soto, at the head of eighty men, 
sixty of whom were mounted, back into the moun- 
tains, to search for gold, and to report respecting the 
condition of the country, in preparation for future ex- 
peditions. 

The bad fame of Pizarro Avas spreading far and 
wide. And though De Soto enjoined it strictly 
upon his men, not to be guilty of any act of injustice, 
still he was an invading Spaniard, and the Peruvians 
regarded them all as the shepherd regards the wolf. 
De Soto had passed but a few leagues from the sea- 
shore, ere he entered upon the hilly country. As he 
was ascending one of the gentle eminences, a band 
of two thousand Indians, who had met there to arrest 
his progress, rushed down upon him. His sixty 
horsemen instantly formed in column and impet- 
uously charged into their crowded ranks. These 
Peruvians had never seen a horse before. Their 
arrows glanced harmless from the impenetrable 
armor, and they were mercilessly cut down and 
trampled beneath iron hoofs. The Spaniards gallop- 
ed through and through their ranks, strewing the 
ground with the dead. The carnage was of short 
duration. The panic-stricken Peruvians fled where- 
ever there was a possibility of escape. The trumpets 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 79 

of the conquerors pealed forth their triumphant 
strains. The silken banners waved proudly in the 
breeze, and the victors exultingly continued their 
march through one of the defiles of the mountains. 

Whatever excuses De Soto may make for himself, 
humanity will never forgive him for the carnage of 
that day. Having thus fairly embarked upon this 
enterprise, where he was surely gaining military re- 
nown, infamous as it was, and where there was the 
prospect before him of plunder of incalculable worth, 
De Soto seems to have assumed to act upon his own 
responsibility, and to have paid very little regard to 
the authority of Pizarro, whom he had left behind. 
He had already penetrated the country much farther 
than he had been authorized to do by the orders of his 
superior. One of the men, whom Pizarro had sent 
with him, very probably as a spy upon his movements, 
deserted, and returned to Tumbez with the report 
that De Soto was already practically in revolt, and 
had renounced all dependence on Pizarro. For this 
alleged insubordination, Pizarro did not venture to 
call his energetic lieutenant to account. 

In the mean time, Pizarro was exploring the coun- 
try in the vicinity of Tumbez, for the site of the colo- 
ny he wished to establish. He selected a position 
about ninety miles south of that city, in a rich and 
well-watered valley which opened upon the placid 



So DE SOTO. 

surface of the Pacific. His troops were transported 
lo the spot by the two vessels. Here he laid the 
foundations of a town, which he called San Miguel. 
With timber from the mountains, and stone from the 
quarries, and the labor of a large number of natives, 
who were driven to daily toil, not as servants, by the 
stimulus of well-paid labor, but as slaves, goaded by 
the sabres of their task masters, quite a large and 
strongly-fortified town rapidly arose. 

De Soto continued his explorations in the interior 
for some time, and discovered a very magnificent 
highway, leading to the capital of the empire. It 
was smoothly paved with flat blocks of stone, or with 
cement harder than stone. He returned to San 
Miguel with the report of his discoveries, and quite 
richly laden with the gold which he had received as a 
present from the natives, or which he had seized as 
what he considered the lawful spoils of war. The 
sight of the gold inspired all the Spaniards at San 
Miguel with the intense desire to press forward into 
a field which promised so rich a harvest. 

It was ascertained that the Inca had command of 
an army of over fifty thousand men. Pizarro, leaving 
sixty men in garrison at San Miguel, set out with one 
hundred and ninety men to visit the Inca in his capi- 
tal. De Soto accompanied him. It was not ostensi- 
bly a military expedition, seeking the conquest of the 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 8 1 

country, or moving with any hostile intent whatever. 
De Soto had a conscience ; Pizarro had none. What- 
ever reproaches might arise in tlie mind of De Soto 
in reference to the course he was pursuing, he si- 
lenced them by the very plausible assumption that 
he was an ambassador from the king of Spain, com- 
missioned to make a friendly visit to the monarch of 
another newly-discovered empire ; that he was the 
messenger of peace seeking to unite the two king- 
doms in friendly relations with each other for their 
mutual benefit. This was probably the real feeling 
of De Soto. The expedition was commissioned by 
the king of Spain. The armed retinue was only 
such as became the ambassadors of a great monarch. 
Such an expedition was in every respect desirable. 
The fault — perhaps we ought in candor to say the ca- 
lamity — of De Soto was in allowing himself to be at- 
tached to an expedition under a man so thoroughly 
reckless and unprincipled as he knew Pizarro to 
have been. Perhaps he hoped to control the actions 
of his ignorant and fanatic superior officer. It is 
quite manifest that De Soto did exert a very powerful 
influence in giving shape to the expedition. 

An Indian courier was sent forward to Cuzco, 
one of the capitals of the Peruvian monarch, with 
a friendly and almost an obsequious message to the 
Inca, whose name was Attahuallapa. The courier 



82 DE SOTO. 

bore the communication that Pizarro was an am- 
bassador commissioned by the king of Spain to visit 
the king of Peru, and to kiss his hand in token of 
peace and fraternity. He therefore soHcited that 
protection in passing through the country which every 
monarch is bovmd to render to the representatives of 
a foreign and friendly power. 

Pizarro, as it will be remembered, was a rough 
and illiterate soldier, unable either to read or write. 
In this sagacious diplomatic arrangement, we un- 
doubtedly see the movement of De Soto's reflective 
and cultivated mind. The expedition moved slowly 
along, awaiting the return of the courier. He soon 
came back with a very indefinite response, and with a 
present of two curiously carved stone cups, and some 
perfumery. The guarded reply and the meagre pres- 
ent excited some alarm in the Spanish camp. It 
was very evident that the expedition was not to antic- 
ipate a very cordial reception at the Peruvian court. 
Pizarro was much alarmed. He was quite confident 
that the Inca was trying to lure them on to their 
ruin. Having called a council of war, he urged that 
they should proceed no farther until he had sent 
some faithful Indian spies to ascertain the intentions 
of Attahuallapa. 

But De Soto, whose youthful energies were in- 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 83 

spired by love and ambition, was eager to press for- 
ward. 

" It is not necessary," said he, " for the Inca to 
use treachery with us. He could easily overpower 
us with numbers were he so disposed. We have also 
heard that he is a just and merciful prince ; and the 
courtesy he has already shown us, is some token at 
least of his good will. But why should we hesitate .-' 
We have no longer any choice but to go forward. If 
we now retreat, it will prove our professions to be 
false ; and when the suspicions of the Inca are once 
aroused, we shall find it impossible to escape from his 
country." 

Pizarro's brother — Hernando — was a man of ig- 
noble birth, of ruffianly manners, of low and brutal 
character. Tauntingly he inquired of De Soto, if he 
were ready to give proof of his confidence in the faith 
of the Peruvian monarch, by going forward to his 
court, as an envoy from the embassy. 

De Soto turned his keen and flashing eye upon 
the man, whom he despised, and. said in slow and 
measured words : 

"Don Hernando, I may yet convince you that it 
is neither civil nor safe to call my sincerity in ques 
tion. I have as much confidence in the honor of the 
Inca as I have in the integrity of any man in this 
company, not excepting the commander or yourself. 



84 r>E SOTO. 

I perceive that you are disposed to go backward. 
You may all return, when and how you please, or re- 
main where you are. But I have made up my mind 
to present myself to Attahuallapa. And I shall cer- 
tainly do so, without asking the assistance or permis- 
sion of any of your party." 

This was x:ertainly a very defiant speech. It as- 
serted his entire rejection of the authority of Pizarro. 
De Soto could not have dared thus to have spoken, 
unless he had felt strong in the support of his own 
dragoons. 

Hernando Pizarro was silent, indulging only in a 
malignant smile. It was not safe for him to provoke 
De Soto to a personal rencontre. Francisco Pizarro 
smothered his chagrin and very adroitly availed him- 
self of this statement, to commission De Soto to take 
twenty-four horsemen, such as he might select, and 
accompanied by an Indian guide called Filipillo, go 
forward to the Peruvian court. 

Both of the Pizarros seemed quite relieved when 
the sound of the departing squadron of brave cava- 
liers died away in the distance. De Soto, during the 
whole of his adventurous life, seems to have been 
entirely unconscious of the emotion of fear. Dur- 
ing his residence in the camp of the Pizarros, he 
had exerted a powerful restraint upon their ferocious 
natures. He had very earnestly endeavored to im- 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 85 

press their minds with the conviction that they could 
not pass through the populous empire of Peru, or even 
remain in it, if their followers were allowed to trample 
upon the rights of the natives. So earnestly and 
persistently did he urge these views, that Pizarro at 
length acknowledged their truth, and in the presence 
of De Soto, commanded his men to abstain from 
every act of aggression. 

But now that De Soto was gone, the Pizarros and 
their rabble rout of vagabonds breathed more freely. 
Scarcely had the plumed helmets of the cavaliers 
disappeared in the distance, when Hernando Pizarro 
set out on a plundering expedition into the villages 
of the Peruvians. The natives fled in terror before 
the Spaniards. Pizarro caught one of the leading men 
and questioned him very closely respecting the de- 
signs of Attahuallapa. The captive honestly and 
earnestly declared, that he knew nothing about the 
plans of his sovereign. 

This demoniac Hernando endeavored to extort a 
confession from him by torture. He tied his victim 
to a tree, enveloped his feet in cotton thoroughly 
saturated with oil and applied the torch. The 
wretched sufferer in unendurable agony, said "yes" to 
anything and everything. Two days after, it was 
proved that he could not have known anything re- 
specting the intended operations of the Inca. It is 



86 DE SOTO. 

a satisfaction to one's sense of justice to remember 
that there is a God who will not allow such crimes to 
go unpunished. 

De Soto, with his bold cavaliers, pressed rapidly 
on towards the Peruvian camp. Very carefully he 
■guarded against every act of hostility or injustice. 
Everywhere the natives were treated with the ut- 
most courtesy. In the rapid advance of the Span- 
iards through the country, crowds flocked to the high- 
way attracted by the novel spectacle. And a won- 
derful spectacle it must have been ! These cavaliers, 
with their nodding plumes, their burnished armor, 
their gleaming sabres, their silken banners, mounted 
on magnificent war horses and rushing along over 
the hills and through the valleys in meteoric splendor, 
must have presented an aspect more imposing to 
their minds than we can well imagine. 

De Soto, who had not his superior as a horseman 
in the Spanish army, was mounted on a milk white 
steed of extraordinary size and grace of figure, and 
wore a complete suit of the most costly and showy 
armor. It is said that on one occasion his path was 
crossed by a brook twenty feet wide. The noble 
animal disdained to wade through, but cleared it at a 
single bound. 

The crowds who lined the highways seemed to 
understand and appreciate the friendly feelings De 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 8/ 

Soto manifested in gracefully bowing to them and 
smiling as he passed along. He soon ascertained, 
though his guide Filipillo, that the head-quarters of 
the Peruvian camp was at a place now called Caxa- 
marca, among the mountains, about eighty miles 
northeast of the present seaport of Truxillo. 

After a rapid ride of about six hours, the expedi- 
tion approached quite a flourishing little town called 
Caxas. Several hundred Peruvian soldiers were 
drawn up in battle array in the outskirts, to arrest 
the progress of the Spaniards. De Soto halted his 
dragoons, and sent forward Filipillo to assure the 
commandant that he was traversing the country not 
with any hostile intent, and that he bore a friendly 
message from his own sovereign to the king of Peru. 

The kindly disposed Peruvians immediately laid 
aside their arms, welcomed the strangers, and enter- 
tained them with a sumptuous feast. Thus refresh- 
ed, they pressed on several leagues farther, until they 
reached a much larger city called Guancabama. 
From all the accounts given it would seem that the 
•inhabitants of this region had reached a degree of 
civilization, so far as the comforts of life are concern- 
ed, fully equal to that then to be found in Spain. 
This city was on the magnificent highway which 
traversed fifteen hundred miles through the very 
heart of the empire. The houses, which were built 



88 DE SOTO. 

of hewn stone, admirably jointed, consisted of several 
rooms, and were distinguished for cleanliness, order, 
and domestic comfort. 

The men seemed intelligent, the women modest, 
and various arts of industry occupied their time. De 
Soto testified that the great highway which passed 
through this place far surpassed in grandeur and 
utility any public work which had ever been attempt- 
ed in Spain. Happy and prosperous as were the Pe- 
ruvians, compared with the inhabitants of most other 
countries, it is quite evident that the ravages of the 
Fall were not unknown there. 

Just before entering the town, De Soto passed a 
high gibbet upon which three malefactors were hung 
in chains, swaying in the breeze. That revolting 
spectacle revealed the sad truth that in Peru, as well 
as elsewhere, man's fallen nature developed itself in 
crime and woe. The Emperor had also a large stand- 
ing army, and the country had just been ravaged by 
the horrors of civil war. 

De Soto was kindly received at Guancabama. 
Just as he was about to leave for Caxamarca, an en- 
voy from the Inca reached the city on its way to the 
Spanish camp. The ambassador was a man of high 
rank. Several servants accompanied him, laden with 
presents for Pizarro. He entreated De Soto to re- 
turn with him to the head-quarters of the Spaniards. 



THE INVASION OF PERU. 89 

As these presents and this embassy would probably 
convince Pizarro of the friendly feeling of the Peru- 
vian monarch, De Soto judged it wise to comply 
with his request. Tbiis he tamed back, and the 
united party soon reached Pizarro's encampment. 



CIIArTER VI. 
TJie Atrocities of Pizarro. 

Fears of Pizarro. — Honorable Conduct of the Inca. — The March to 
Caxamarca. — Hospitable Reception. — Perfidious Attack upon the 
Inca. — His Capture and Imprisonment. — The Honor of De Soto. 
— The Offered Ransom. — Treachery and Extortion of Pizarro. 

The report which De Soto brought back was 
in many respects quite alarming to the Pizarros. 
Though they were dehghted to hear of the wealth 
which had been discovered, and the golden ornaments 
decorating houses, temples and shrines, they were 
not a little alarmed in the contemplation of the large 
population over which the Inca reigned, and of the 
power of his government. The spectacle of the gal- 
lows also at Guancabama, caused very uncomfortable 
sensations. 

Both of these men were aware that they and their 
troops had committed crimes which would doom them 
to the scaffold, should the Inca be able to punish them 
according to their deserts. Indeed it subsequently 
appeared, that the Inca had heard of their outrages. 
But with humanity and a sense of justice which re- 
flects lustre upon his name, he had resolved not to 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. 



91 



punish them unheard in their own defence. He knew 
not but that false representations had been made of 
the facts. He knew not but that the Spaniards had 
been goaded to acts of retaUation by outrages on 
the part of the Peruvians. 

He therefore invited the Spanish adventurers to 
meet him at Caxamarca, assuring them of a safe pass- 
age to that place. With fear and trembling Pizarro 
consented, with his little band of two hundred and 
fifty men, to visit the 'Peruvian camp, where fifty 
thousand soldiers might be arrayed against him. The 
path they were to traverse led through defiles of the 
mountains, where a few hundred men could arrest the 
march of an army. The Spaniards afterwards could 
not but admit, that had the Inca cherished any per- 
fidious design, he might with the utmost ease have 
utterly exterminated them. Not a man could have 
escaped. 

The march of these trembling men was not with 
the triumphant tramp of conquerors. They did not 
enter the Peruvian camp with flourish of trumpets 
and bugle blasts, but as peaceful ambassadors, with 
a showy retinue, who had been permitted to traverse 
the country unharmed. The sun was just sinking 
behind the rugged peaks of the mountains on the fif- 
teenth of November, 1532, when Pizarro's band rode 
into the streets of Caxamarca. In the centre of the 



92 - DE SOTO. 

town there was a large public square. On one side 
of that square was a spacious stone edifice, which the 
Inca had caused to be prepared for the accommoda- 
tion of his guests. This building was a part of a 
strong fortress, within whose massive walls, a small 
party of well armed men might easily defend them- 
selves against a host. 

The fact that Attahuallapa assigned to them such 
quarters, proves conclusively that he had no intention 
to treat them otherwise than in the most friendly 
manner. The Inca, with the troops immediately 
under his command, was encamped at a distance of 
about three miles from the town. The treacherous 
Pizarro was ever apprehensive of treachery on the 
part of others. He was an entire stranger to that 
calm and peaceful courage which seemed always to 
reign in the bosom of De Soto. 

Immediately after he reached Caxamarca he dis- 
patched De Soto to inform the Inca of his arrival. 
The Peruvian camp covered several acres of ground, 
with substantial and commodious tents. In the cen- 
tre there was truly a magnificent pavilion, gorgeous 
in its decorations, which was appropriated to the 
Inca. Attahuallapa was informed of the approach of 
the Spanish cavaliers. He came from his tent and 
took his seat upon a splendid throne prepared for the 
occasion. The Peruvian soldiers gazed with amaze- 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. 93 

ment upon the spectacle of these horsemen as they 
were led mto the presence of their sovereign. 

De Soto, with the native grace which attended all 
his actions, alighted from his horse, bowed respectful- 
ly to the monarch, and said in words which were inter- 
preted by Filipillo. 

" I am sent by my commander, Don Francisco Pi- 
zarro, who desires to be admitted to your presence, to 
give you an account of the causes which have brought 
him to this country, and other matters which it may 
behoove your majesty to know. He humbly entreats 
you to allow him an interview this night or to-morrow, 
as he wishes to make you an offer of his services, 
and to deliver the message which has been commit- 
ted to him by his sovereign, the king of Spain." 

Attahuallapa replied with much dignity and some 
apparent reserve, that he cordially accepted the 
friendly offers of Pizarro, and would grant him the 
desired interview the following morning. The Inca 
was a young man about thirty years of age. He was 
tall, admirably formed, and with a very handsome 
countenance. But there was an expression of sad- 
ness overspreading his features, and a pensive tone 
in his address, indicating that he was a man who had 
seen affliction. 

The splendid steed from which De Soto had 
alighted was restlessly pawing the ground at a short 



94 DE SOTO. 

distance from the tent of the Inca, attracting the par- 
ticular attention and admiration of the sovereign. De 
Soto, perceiving the admiration which his steed ehc- 
ited, remounted, and touching the spirited animal 
with the spur, went bounding with almost the speed 
of the wind over the level plain, causing his horse 
now to rear, and now to plunge, wheeling him 
around, and thus exhibiting his excellent qualities. 
He then came down at full speed to the spot where 
the Inca stood, until within a few feet of the monarch, 
when he checked his horse so suddenly as to throw 
him back upon his haunches. Some of the attendants 
of the Inca were evidently alarmed ; but the Inca 
himself stood proudly immovable. He reproved his 
attendants for their timidity ; and Mr. Prescott, who 
represents Atthuallapa as a very cruel man, intimates 
that he put some of them to death that evening for 
betraying such weakness before the strangers. Re- 
freshments were offered to De Soto and his party, 
and a sort of wine was presented to them in golden 
cups, of extraordinary size. 

As De Soto, having fulfilled his mission, was 
about to leave the royal presence and return to Cax- 
amarca, Attahuallapa said : 

" Tell your companions, that as I am keeping a 
fast, I cannot to-day accept their invitation. I will 
come to them to-morrow. I may be attended by a 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. 95 

large and armed retinue. But let not that give you 
any uneasiness. I wish to cultivate your friendship 
and that of your king. I have already given ample 
proof that no harm is intended you, though your 
captain, I am told, mistrusts me. If you think it will 
please him better, I will come with few attendants 
and those unarmed." 

De Soto warmly assured the Inca that no man 
could doubt his sincerity, and begged him to consult 
his own taste entirely in reference to the manner in 
which he would approach the Spaniards. 

Upon the return of the cavalier to Pizarro, with 
an account of the interview, that perfidious chieftain 
proposed to his men, that they should seize the Inca 
and hold him in captivity as a hostage. Mr. Pres- 
cott, in his account of this infamous procedure, 
speaks of it in the following apologetic terms : 

" Pizarro then summoned a council of his officers, 
to consider the plan of operations, or rather to pro- 
pose to them the extraordinary plan on which he had 
himself decided. This was to lay an ambuscade for 
the Inca, and take him prisoner in the face of his 
whole army. It was a project full of peril, bordering as 
it might well seem on desperation. But the circum- 
stances of the Spaniards were desperate. Whichever 
way they turned they were menaced by the most ap- 
palling dangers. And better was it to confront the 



g6 DE SOTO. 

danger, than weakly to shrink from it when there 
was no avenue for escape. To fly was now too late. 
Whither could they fly ^ At the first signal of retreat 
the whole army of the Inca would be upon them. 
Their movements would be anticipated by a foe far 
better acquainted with the intricacies of the Sierra 
than themselves ; the passes would be occupied, and 
they would be hemmed in on all sides ; while the 
mere fact of this retrograde movement would dimin- 
ish the confidence and with it the effective strength 
of his own men, while it doubled that of the enemy." 

The next morning was Saturday, the i6th of No- 
vember, 1532. The sun rose in a cloudless sky, and 
great preparations were made by the Inca to display 
his grandeur and his power to his not very welcome 
guests. A large retinue preceded and followed the 
monarch, while a courier was sent forward to inform 
Pizarro of his approach. The Inca, habited in a dress 
which was glittering with gems and gold, was seated 
in a gorgeous open palanquin, borne upon the shoul- 
ders of many of his nobles. 

It was five o'clock in the afternoon, Avhen the 
Inca, accompanied by a small but unarmed retinue, 
entered the public square of the city. The tents of 
his troops left outside, spread far and wide over the 
meadows, indicating the presence of an immense 
host. The Inca was clothed in a flowing robe of 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. 97 

scarlet, woven of the finest wool, and almost entirely- 
covered with golden stars and the most precious 
gems. His head was covered with a turban of varie- 
gated colors, to which there was suspended a scarlet 
fringe, the badge of royalty. The palanquin, or 
throne, on which he was seated, was apparently of 
pure gold ; and the cushion upon which he sat was 
covered with the most costly gems. His nobles were 
also dressed in the highest possible style of Peruvian 
wealth and art. It was estimated that the number 
of the nobles and officers of the court who accompa- 
nied the king into the square, was about two thou- 
sand. A large company of priests was also in attend- 
ance, who chanted the Peruvian National Hymn. 

It is very difficult for an honest mind to form any 
just conception of such a religious fanatic, and such 
an irreligious wretch as this Francisco Pizarro. Just 
before the Peruvians arrived he had attended a sol- 
emn mass, in which the aid of the God of the Chris- 
tians was fervently implored in behalf of their enter- 
prise. The mass was closed with chanting one of 
the psalms of David, in which God is called upon to 
arise and come to judgment. Friar Vincent, who 
was Pizarro's spiritual adviser, and grand chaplain of 
the so-called Christian army, was then sent forward 
with the Bible in one hand and a crucifix in the other, 
to expound to the Inca the doctrines of the Christian 
S 



98 'DE SOTO. 

faith, stating that it was for that purpose, and for that 
only, that the Spaniards had come into the country. 

So far as we can judge from the uncertain records 
which have reached us, the views he presented were 
what are called evangelical, though highly imbued 
with the claims of the Papal Church. He described 
the creation of man, his fall, the atonement by the 
crucifixion of the Son of God, his ascension, leaving 
Peter and his successors, as his vicegerents upon 
earth. Invested with this divine power, one of his 
successors, the present Pope, had commissioned 
Pizarro to visit Peru, to conquer and convert the 
natives to the true faith. 

The Inca listened attentively to the arguments of 
the priest, but was apparently unmoved by them. 
He calmly replied : 

" I acknowledge that there is but one God, the 
maker of all things. As for the Pope, I know him 
not. He must be insane to give away that which 
does not belong to him. The king of Spain is doubt- 
less a great monarch, and I wish to make him my 
friend, but I cannot become his vassal." 

A few more words were interchanged, when the 
priest returned into the stone fortress, where Pizarro 
stood surrounded by his soldiers. The priest reported 
the conversation which had taken place ; declared 
that the Inca, in the pride of his heart, had rejected 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. 99 

Christianity. He therefore announced to Pizarro 
that he was authorized by the divine law, to make 
war upon the Inca and his people. 

" Go set on them at once," said he ; " spare them 
not ; kill these dogs which so stubbornly despise the 
law of God. I absolve you." 

The extraordinary scene which then ensued can- 
not perhaps be better described than in the language 
of Mr. Prescott : 

" Pizarro saw that the hour had come. He waved 
a white scarf in the air, the appointed signal. The 
fatal gun was fired from the fortress. Then spring- 
ing into the square, the Spanish captain and his fol- 
lowers shouted the old war cry of ' St. Jago, and at 
them !' It was answered by the battle cry of every 
Spaniard in the city, as rushing from the avenues of 
the great halls in which they were concealed, they 
poured into the Plaza, horse and foot, and threw 
themselves into the midst of the Indian crowd. 

" The latter, taken by surprise, stunned by the 
reports of artillery and musketry, the echoes of which 
reverberated like thunder from the surrounding build- 
ings, and blinded by the smoke which rolled in sul- 
phurous volumes along the square, were seized with 
a panic. They knew not whither to fly for refuge 
from the coming ruin. Nobles and commoners all 
were trampled down under the fierce charge of the 



lOO DE SOTO. 

cavalry, who dealt their blows right and left, without 
sparing ; while their swords, flashing through the 
thick gloom, carried dismay into the hearts of the 
wretched natives, who now, for the first time, saw the 
horse and his rider in all their terrors. They made 
no resistance, as indeed they had no weapons with 
which to resist. 

" Every avenue to escape was closed, for the 
entrance to the square was choked up with the dead 
bodies of men who had perished in vain efforts to fly. 
And such was the agony of the survivors, under the 
terrible pressure of their assailants, that a large body 
of Indians, by their convulsive struggles, burst 
through the wall of stone and dried clay, which 
formed the boundary of the Plaza. It fell, leaving an 
opening of more than a hundred paces, through 
which multitudes now found their way into the coun- 
try, still hotly pursued by the cavalry, who, leaping 
the piles of rubbish, hung on the rear of the fugitives, 
striking them down in all directions." 

" There were two great objects in view in this mas- 
sacre. One was to strike terror into the heart of 
the Peruvians ; the other was to obtain possession 
of the person of the Inca. It seems that the nobles 
regarded their sovereign with almost idolatrous hom- 
age. They rallied thickly around him, placed their 
own bodies between him and the sabres of their 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. lOI 

assailants, and made frantic endeavors to tear the 
cavaliers from their saddles. Unfortunately they 
were unarmed, and had neither arrows, javelins nor 
war clubs. The Inca sat helpless in his palan- 
quin, quite bewildered by the awful storm of war 
which had thus suddenly burst around him. In the 
swaying of the mighty mass, the litter heaved to and 
fro, like a ship in a storm." 

At length several of the nobles who sup- 
ported it being slain, the palanquin was over- 
thrown, and the Inca, as he was falling to the 
ground, was caught by the Spaniards. In the 
confusion of the affray, Pizarro was slightly wounded 
in the hand by one of his own men. This was the 
only hurt received by any Spaniard during the bloody 
affray. 

The Inca being captured, the conflict in the 
square ceased. But there was another object in 
view, as has been stated, and that was to strike ter- 
ror into the hearts of the Peruvians. Consequently 
the steel-clad cavaliers pursued the fugitives in all 
directions, cutting them down without mercy. Night, 
which followed the short twilight of the tropics, put an 
end to the carnage, and the trumpets of Pizarro 
recalled the soldiers, wiping their dripping sabres, to 
their fortress. The number slain is variously esti- 
mated. The secretary of Pizarro says that two thou- 



102 DE SOTO. 

sand fell. A Peruvian annalist swells the number of 
victims to ten thousand. 

Attahuallapa, the monarch of the great kingdom 
of Peru, thus .<;uddenly found himself a prisoner in 
one of his own fortresses ; surrounded by a band of 
stern warriors, who had penetrated the heart of his 
empire from a distance of more than two thousand 
leagues. Pizarro treated the unhappy king with 
respect, and testifies to the dignity with which he 
met his awful reverses. What part De Soto took in 
the outrages just described, cannot now be known. 
He had unquestionably in good faith, and as an hon- 
orable man, invited the Inca to visit Caxamarca, by 
which invitation he had been enticed into the power 
of the Spaniards. 

There is evidence that De Soto had no idea of 
the treachery which was intended, for it was not 
until after he had left on his visit to the Peruvian 
camp that the plot was formed for the seizure of the 
Inca. Pizarro had two bodies of horsemen. One 
was commanded by his brother Hernando, and the 
other by De Soto. There were thirty dragoons in 
each band. Unquestionably, Hernando was a very 
eager participant in the horrors of this day. It may 
be that De Soto, from the roof of the fortress, was an 
inactive spectator of the scene. It does not seem 
possible that with the character he had heretofore 



THE ATROCITIES OF PIZARRO. 103 

developed, he could have lent his own strong arm and 
those of his horsemen to the perpetration of a crime 
so atrocious. Still military discipline is a terrible 
power. It sears the conscience and hardens the 
heart. The fact that De Soto was present and that 
there are no evidences of remonstrances on his part, 
has left a stigma upon his character which time can- 
not efface. 

The next morning these Spaniards, so zealous for 
the propagation of the Christian faith, unmindful of 
their professed Christian mission, betook themselves, 
with all alacrity, to the work of pillage. The golden 
throne, and the royal wardrobe, were of very great 
value. The nobles were clad in their richest gar- 
ments of state, and the ground was strewn with 
bodies of the dead, glittering in robes of gold and 
gems. Having stripped the dead, they then entered 
the houses and temples of Caxamarca and loaded 
themselves down with golden vases, and other booty 
of great value. As one suggestive item, which 
reveals the conduct of these brutal men, the good 
Las Casas states, that a Spanish soldier seized a 
young Peruvian girl. When the mother rushed to 
rescue her child, he cut off her arm with his sword, 
and then in his rage hewed the maiden to pieces. 

Pizarro now assumed the proud title of " The Con- 
queror of Peru." With the sovereign as his prisoner, 



I04 DE SOTO. 

and elated by his great victory, he felt that there was 
no resistance that he had to fear. It seems that 
Attahuallapa had penetration enough to discern thai 
De Soto was a very different man in character from 
the Pizarros. He soon became quite cordial and 
unreserved in his intercourse with him. And there 
is no evidence that De Soto ever, in the slightest 
degree, betrayed his confidence. One day the Inca 
inquired of De Soto for what amount of ransom 
Pizarro would be willing to release him. De Soto 
was well aware of the timidity and avarice of the cap- 
tain. The love of the Peruvians for their sovereign 
was such, that Pizarro was confident that so long as 
Attahuallapa was in his power, they would not make 
war upon him. De Soto felt therefore that there was 
no prospect that Pizarro would release his captive for 
any ransom whatever, and sadly advised him to resign 
all such hope. The Inca was greatly distressed. 
After a few moments of silence, he said : 

" My friend, do not deprive me of the only hope that 
can make life supportable. I must be free, or I must 
die. Your commander loves gold above all things. 
Surely I can purchase my liberty from him at some 
price, and however unreasonable it may be, I am 
willing to satisfy his demand. Tell me, I entreat of 
you, what sum you think will be sufficient .'' " 

For a moment De Soto made no reply. They 



THE ATROCITIES OF FIZARRO. IO.5 

were sitting in a room, according to the statement of 
Pizarro's secretary, twenty-two feet long and seven- 
teen feet broad. Tiien turning to tlie Inca, and wish- 
ing to impress his mind with the conviction that 
there was not any ransom which could effect his 
release, he said : 

" If you could fill this room with gold as high as I 
can reach with my sword, Pizarro might perhaps 
accept it as your ransom." 

" It shall be done," the Inca eagerly replied. 
" And I beg you to let Pizarro know, that within a 
month from this day, my part of the contract shall be 
fulfilled." 

De Soto was troubled, for he had not intended 
that as an offer, but rather as a statement of an 
impossibility. He however felt bound to report the 
proposition to Pizarro. Much to his surprise the ava- 
ricious captain readily accepted it. The contract was 
drawn up, and Pizarro gave his solemn pledge that upon 
the delivery of the gold the prison doors of the captive 
should be thrown open. But after the terms had all 
been settled, the perfidious Spaniard craved a still 
higher ransom, and declared that he would not release 
his victim unless another room of equal size was 
equally filled with silver. 

Attahuallapa could fully appreciate such dishon- 
orable conduct ; for in all moral qualities he seems 
5* 



I06 DE SOTO. 

to have been decidedly superior to his Spanish antag- 
onist. But without any undignified murmurs, he 
submitted to this extortion also. Matters being thus 
arranged, De Soto, with his characteristic plain deal- 
ing, said to Pizarro. 

" I hope you will remember, Don Francisco, that 
my honor is pledged for the strict fulfilment of the 
contract on the part of the Spaniards. Observe, 
therefore, that as soon as the gold and the silver are 
produced, Attahuallapa must have his liberty." 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Execution of the Inca, and Embarrassments of 
De Soto. 

Pledges of Pizarro. — His Perfidy. — False Mission of De Soto. — Exe« 
cution of the Inca. — His P'ortitude. — Indignation of De Soto. — • 
Great Embarrassments. — Extenuating Considerations. — Arrival of 
Almagro. — March Towards the Capital. 

Pizarro gave his most solemn pledges, on his 
Christian faith, that so soon as the money was paid 
the Inca should be released. The idea does not seem 
to have entered the mind of Attahuallapa that Pizarro 
could be guilty of the perfidy of violating those 
pledges. The unhappy condition of the Inca excited 
the strong sympathies of De Soto. He visited him 
often, and having a natural facility for the acquisition 
of language, was soon able to converse with the cap- 
tive in his own tongue. Quite a friendship, founded 
on mutual esteem, sprang up between them. By his 
strong intercession, Pizarro was constrained to con- 
sent that the gold should not be melted into ingots, 
thus to fill the designated space with its solid bulk, 
but that it should be received and packed away in 
the form of vases, and ornaments, and other manu- 
factured articles, as brought in by the Peruvians. 



I08 DE SOTO. 

Several of the principal officers of Attahuallapa's 
court were sent to Cuzco, the capital of the empire, 
where the main treasures of the kingdom were depos- 
ited. Three Spaniards accompanied these officers. 
The Inca issued his orders that they should be 
treated with respect. The people obeyed ; for they 
knew that any injury or insult befalling the Span- 
iards would bring down terrible retribution upon 
their beloved sovereign. Peruvian agents were also 
dispatched to all the temples to strip them of their 
ornaments, and to the homes of the nobility to 
receive the plate and golden decorations which were 
eagerly contributed as ransom for the king. The 
cornices and entablatures of the temples were often 
of solid gold, and massive plates of gold encrusted 
the walls. For several weeks there seemed to be a 
constant procession of Peruvians entering the for- 
tress, laden with golden vases and innumerable other 
utensils, often of exquisite workmanship. 

Within the allotted time the ransom, enormous as 
it was, was all brought in. It is estimated that its 
value was equal to about twenty million dollars of our 
money. The Inca now demanded his release. The 
infamous Pizarro had perhaps originally intended to 
set him at liberty. But he had now come to the con- 
clusion that the Inca might immediately rally around 
him, not only his whole army, but the whole popula- 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. 109 

tion of the kingdom, cut off the retreat of the Span- 
iards, exterminate them, and win back all the plun- 
der so unrighteously extorted. Pizarro was conse- 
quently plotting for some plausible excuse for putting 
the monarch to death. The Peruvians thus deprived 
of their sovereign, and in a state of bewilderment, 
would be thrown into anarchy, and the Spaniards 
would have a much better chance of obtaining entire 
possession of the kingdom. 

Pizarro did not dare to reveal to De Soto his trea- 
sonable designs. He feared not only his reproaches, 
but his determined and very formidable resistance. 
He therefore gave it as an excuse for postponing the 
liberation of the Inca, that he must wait until he had 
made a division of the spoils. ■ The distribution was 
performed with imposing religious ceremonies. Mass 
was celebrated, and earnest prayers were addressed 
to Heaven that the work might be so performed as 
to meet the approbation of God. A fifth part of the 
plunder was set apart for the king of Spain, the 
Emperor, Charles the Fifth. Pizarro, as commander 
of the expedition, came next, and his share amounted 
to millions. De Soto was defrauded, not receiving 
half so much as Hernando Pizarro. Still, his share 
in this distribution and in another which soon took 
place, amounted to over five hundred thousand dol- 
lars. This was an enormous sum in those days. It 



no DE SOTO. 

elevated him at once, in point of opulence, to the 
rank of the proudest grandees of Spain. 

The great object of De Soto's ambition was ac- 
complished. He had acquired fame and wealth be- 
yond his most sanguine expectations. Thus he was 
prepared to return to Spain and demand the hand of 
Isabella. But his generous nature was troubled. 
He became very anxious for the fate of the Inca. 
His own honor was involved in his release, and day 
after day he became more importunate in his expostu- 
lations with Pizarro. 

" Whatever the consequences may be," said De 
Soto, " the Inca must now be immediately set at lib- 
erty. He has your promise to that effect and he has 
mine ; and my promise, come what will, shall not be 
violated." 

Pizarro urged, in view of their peril, the delay of a 
few weeks. De Soto replied : 

" Not a single week, not a day ; if you do not lib- 
erate the prisoner, I will take that liberty on myself." 

" To give him his freedom at this time," Pizarro 
replied, " would be certain destruction to us all." 

" That may be," responded De Soto, " but that 
should have been considered before he was admitted 
to ransom." 

" But since that agreement was made," said Pi- 
zarro, " I have received information which justifies me 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. m 

in changing my intentions, Attahuallapa's officers, 
acting under his directions, are now engaged in excit- 
ing an insurrection for the extermination of the 
Spaniards." 

De Soto had no faith whatever in this accusation. 
There was a long and angry controversy. Pizarro 
called in his interpreter Filipillo, who was undoubt- 
edly bribed to testify according to the wishes of his 
master. He declared that the Inca was organizing 
this conspiracy. De Soto was unconvinced. He 
still regarded the accusation as a groundless cal- 
umny. 

Finally they came to a compromise. The treach- 
erous and wily Pizarro suggested that De Soto should 
take a party of dragoons and proceed to that section 
of the country, where it was said the conspirators 
were assembling in vast numbers, in preparation for 
their onset upon the Spaniards. If De Soto found 
no indication of such a movement, Pizarro gave his 
solemn pledge, that immediately upon his return, he 
would release Attahuallapa. De Soto . agreed to the 
arrangement, and at once set out on the journey. 

Pizarro had thus accomplished his object, of be- 
ing relieved of the embarrassment of De Soto's pres- 
ence, while he should lead the Inca to his execution. 
A sort of council of war was held, though Attahu- 
allapa was not present, and nothing was heard in his 



112 DE SOTO. 

defence. It was necessary to proceed with the ut- 
most expedition, as De Soto would soon return. 
The horrible verdict of the court was, that the captive 
should be burned to death at the stake. Pizarro 
himself, it is said, carried the terrible intelligence to 
the prisoner. 

The Inca, a young man in the very prime of life, 
being but thirty years of age, was horror stricken, and 
for some time sat in silence, not uttering a word. 
And then turning to Pizarro, he said : 

" Is it possible that you can believe in a God and 
fear him, and yet dare to commit such an act of injus- 
tice .'' What have I done to deserve death in any 
form, and why have you condemned me to a death 
so unusual and painful. Surely you cannot intend to 
execute this cruel sentence." 

Pizarro assured him that the decree of the court 
was unalterable, and must immediately be carried 
into effect. 

" Think of the wrong you have already done me," 
said the Inca, " and do not forget how much you are 
indebted to my kindness and forbearance. I could 
easily have intercepted you in the mountain passes, 
and made you all prisoners, or sacrificed you all justly 
to the offended laws of my country. I could have 
overpowered you with my armed warriors at Caxa- 
marca. But I failed in my duty to my people in 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. 1 13 

receiving you as friends. You have robbed me of 
my kingdom and compelled me to insult my Deity, 
by stripping his temples to satisfy your avarice. 

" Of all my possessions, you have left me nothing 
but my life, and that I supposed you would be willing 
to spare me, since you can gain nothing by taking it 
away. Consider how hard it is for me to die, so sud- 
denly and without any warning of my danger. I have 
lived but thirty years, and until very lately, I had 
every reason to hope for a long and happy life. My 
prospects for happiness are blighted forever. But I 
will not complain of that, if you will permit me to 
live out the term which God and nature have allot- 
ted me." 

The execution was to take place immediately. 
Pizarro waited only for the sun to go down, that dark- 
ness might shroud the fiend-like deed. As they were 
talking Pizarro's chaplain, Friar Vincent, came in to 
prepare the victim for the sacrifice. He was dressed 
in his ecclesiastical robes, and bore in his hand a 
large crucifix. Was he an unmitigated knave, or was 
he a fanatic .-* Who but God can tell. 

" It is time for you," said he, "to withdraw your 
thoughts from earthly vanities and fix them upon the 
realities of the eternal world. You are justly con- 
demned to death, for your infidelity and other sins. 
I call on you to accept the free gift of salvation which 



114 



DE SOTO. 



I -now offer you, so that you may escape the greater 
punishment of eternal fire." 

The Inca seemed to pay little heed to these 
words, but with a gesture of impatience and anger, 
exclaimed : 

" Oh, where is De Soto ? He is a good man, and 
he is my friend. Surely he will not allow me to be 
thus mvu'dered." 

" De Soto," the priest replied, " is far away. No 
earthly help can avail you. Receive the consolations 
of the Church ; kiss the feet of this image, and I will 
absolve you from your sins, and prepare you to enter 
the kingdom of Heaven." 

" I worship the Maker of all things," the Inca 
firmly replied. " As much as I desire to live, I will 
not forsake the faith of my fathers to prolong my 
life." 

Two hours after sunset, the sound of the trumpet 
assembled the Spanish soldiers by torchlight in the 
great square of Caxaniarca. It was the evening of 
the twenty-ninth of August, 1533. The clanking 
of chains was heard as the victim, manacled hand and 
foot, toiled painfully over the stone pavement of the 
square. He was bound by chains to the stake ; 
the combustible fagots were pi ed up around him. 
Friar Vincent then, it is said, holding up the cross 
before the victim, told him that if he would embrace 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. 115 

Christianity he should be spared the cruel death by 
the flames, and experience in its stead only the pain- 
less death of the garotte, and that the Inca did, while 
thus chained to the stake, abjure his religion and 
receive the rite of baptism. In reference to this rep- 
resentation Mr. Lambert A. Wilmer, in his admira- 
ble life of Ferdinand De Soto, says : 

" As the traducers of the dead Inca were permit- 
ted to tell their own story without fear of contradic- 
tion, it is impossible to assign any limits to their 
fabrications. And their testimony is probable, only 
when it tends to criminate themselves. Perhaps the 
greatest injustice which these slanderers have done 
to Attahuallapa's memory, was by pretending that he 
became an apostate to his own religion and a convert 
to Catholicism just before his death. 

"If this story were true, how could Pizarro justify 
himself, or how could the Pope and the king of Spain 
excuse him for putting a Christian to death on account 
of sins committed by an infidel. Surely the royal 
penitent, when he entered the pale of the Holy Cath- 
olic Church, would be entitled to a free pardon for 
those errors of conduct which were incidental to his 
unregenerate condition. We are told that when the 
Inca had consented to be baptized by Father Vin- 
cent, Pizarro graciously commuted his sentence, and 
allowed him to be strangled before his body was 



ri6 DE SOTO. 

reduced to ashes." These fictions were doubtless 
contrived to illustrate Pizarro's clemency, and Father 
Vincent's apostolic success. 

The probability is, as others state, that the Inca 
remained firm to the end ; the torch was applied, and 
while the consuming flames wreathed around him, he 
uttered no cry. In this chariot of fire the spirit of 
this deeply outraged man was borne to the judgment 
of God. 

De Soto soon returned. He was almost frantic 
with indignation when he learned of the crime which 
had been perjDetrated in his absence, and perceived 
that his mission was merely an artifice to get him out 
of the way. His rage blazed forth in the most vio- 
lent reproaches. Hastening to the tent of Pizarro, 
he rudely pushed aside a sentinel who guarded the 
entrance, and found the culprit seated on a low stool, 
affecting the attitude of a mourner. A large slouched 
hat was bent over his eyes. 

" Uncover yourself;" said De Soto, " unless you 
are ashamed to look a human being in the face." 
Then with the point of his sword he struck off his 
hat, exclaiming : 

" Is it not enough that. I have disgraced myself 
in the eyes of the world by becoming your compan- 
ion and confederate, making myself accessory to your 
crimes, and protecting you from the punishment you 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. I ! / 

deserve. Have you not heaped infamy enough upon 
me, without dishonoring me by the violation of my 
pledges, and exposing me to the suspicion of being 
connected with the most cruel and causeless murder 
that ever set human laws and divine justice at defi- 
ance ? I have ascertained, what you well knew before 
I left Caxamarca, that the report of the insurrection 
was ulterly false. I have met nothing on the road 
but demonstrations of good will. The whole country 
is quiet, and Attahuallapa has been basely slandered. 
You, Francisco Pizarro, are his slanderer, and you 
are his murderer. 

" To prove that I have had no participation in the 
deed, I will make you accountable for his death. 
Craven and prevaricating villain as you are, you shall 
not escape this responsibility. If you refuse to meet 
me in honorable combat, I will denounce you to the 
king of Spain as a criminal, and will proclaim you to 
the whole world as a coward and an assassin." 

Pizarro was both, an assassin and a coward. He 
stood in awe of his intrepid lieutenant. He did not 
dare to meet him in a personal rencontre, and he 
well knew that De Soto was not a man to be taken 
by force or guile, as he could immediately rally around 
him the whole body of his well drilled-dragoons. He 
therefore began to make excuses, admitted that he 
had acted hastily, and endeavored to throw the blame 



Il8 DE SOTO. 

upon others, declaring that by their false representa- 
tions they had forced him to the act. 

In the midst of the dispute, Pizarro's brothers — 
for there were two in the camp — entered the tent 
De Soto, addressing the three, said : 

" I am the champion of Attahuallapa. I accuse 
Francisco Pizarro of being his murderer." Then 
throwing his glove upon the floor, he continued : 

" I invite any man who is disposed to deny that 
Francisco Pizarro is a coward and an assassin, to take 
it up." 

The gauge remained untouched. De Soto turned 
upon his heel contemptuously, and left the tent, 
resolved, it is said, no longer to have any connection 
whatever with such perfidious wretches. He imme- 
diately resigned his commission as lieutenant-general 
and announced his determination to return to Spain. 
But alas, for human frailty and inconsistency, he was 
to take with him the five hundred thousand dollars of 
treasure of which the Peruvians had been ruthlessly 
despoiled. Perhaps he reasoned with himself, 

" What can I do with it. The Inca is dead. It 
would not be wise to throw it into the streets, and 
I surely am not bound to contribute it to the already 
enormous wealth of Pizarro." 

Another source of embarrassment arose. Rein- 
forcements to the number of two hundred men had just 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. II9 

arrived at Caxamarca, under Almagro. They had been 
sent forward from Panama, commissioned by the king 
of Spain to join the enterprise. The whole num- 
ber of Spanish soldiers, assembled in the heart of. the 
Peruvian empire, now amounted to about five hun- 
dred. Mountain ridges rose between them and the 
sea-coast, in whose almost impassable defiles a few 
hundred resolute men might arrest the advance of an 
army. The Peruvians had a standing force of fifty 
thousand soldiers. The whole population of the 
country was roused to the highest pitch of indigna- 
tion. They were everywhere grasping their arms. 
Nothing but the most consummate prudence could 
rescue the Spaniards from their perilous position. 
The danger was imminent, that they would be utterly 
exterminated. 

For De Soto, under these circumstances, to aban- 
don his comrades, and retire from the field, would 
seem an act of cowardice. He had no confidence in 
the ability of the Pizarros to rescue the Spaniards. 
He therefore judged that duty to his king and his coun- 
trymen demanded of him that he should remain in 
Peru, until he could leave the army in a safe condi- 
tion. 

Pizarro did not venture to resent the reproaches 
and defiance of De Soto, but immediately prepared 
to avail himself of his military abilities, in a march of 



120 DE SOTO. 

several hundred miles south to Cuzco, the capital of 
the empire. With characteristic treacher}^ Pizarro 
seized one of the most distinguished nobles of the 
Peruvian court, and held him as a hostage. This 
nobleman, named Chalcukima, had occupied some of 
the highest posts of honor in the kingdom, and was 
greatly revered and beloved by the Peruvians. 
Pizarro sent far and wide the announcement, that 
upon the slightest movement of hostility on the part 
of the natives, Chalcukima would be put to death. 

The Spaniards now set out on their long march. 
It was in the month of September, 1533, one of the 
most lovely months in that attractive clime. But for 
the rapine, carnage and violence of war, such a tour 
through the enchanting valley of the Cordilleras, in- 
the midst of fruits and flowers, and bird songs, and 
traversing populous villages inhabited by a gentle 
and amiable people, would have been an enterprise 
full of enjoyment. But the path of these demoniac 
men was marked by the ravages of fiends. And not- 
withstanding the great embarrassments in which De 
Soto found himself involved, it is very difficult to find 
any excuse for him, in allowing himself to be one of 
their number. 

Francisco Pizarro led the band. His brother 
Hernando, De Soto, and Almagro, were his leading 
captains. But it was the genius of De Soto alone, 



EXECUTION OF THE INC A. 121 

with his highly disciplined dragoons, which conducted 
the enterprise to a successful issue. He led the 
advance ; he was always sent to every point of dan- 
ger ; his sword opened the path, through which 
Pizarro followed with his vagabond and plundering 
crew. 

In trembling solicitude for his own safety, Pizarro 
not only held Chalcukima as a hostage, but he also 
seized upon Topaxpa, the young, feeble and grief- 
stricken son of the murdered Attahuallapa, and 
declared him to be, by legitimate right, the successor 
to the throne. Thus he still had the Inca in his 
power. The Peruvians were still accustomed to 
regard the Inca with almost religious homage. 
Topaxpa was compelled to issue such commands as 
Pizarro gave to him. Thus an additional element of 
embarrassment was thrown into the ranks of the 
Peruvians. Communication between different parts 
of the empire was extremely difficult and slow. 
There were no mails and no horses. This gave the 
mounted Spaniards a vast advantage over their bewil- 
dered victims. 

For several days the Spanish army moved delight- 
fully along, through a series of luxuriant valleys, 
where the secluded people had scarcely heard of their 
arrival in the country. The movement of the glitter- 
ing host was one of the most wonderful pageants 



122 DE SOTO. 

which Peruvian eyes had ever beheld. A multitude 
of men, women and children, thronged the highway, 
gazing with, curiosity and admiration upon the scene, 
and astonished by the clatter of the hoofs of the 
horses upon the flag-stones, with which the national 
road was so carefully paved. During these few days of 
peaceful travel the natives presented no opposition to 
the march, and the presence of De Soto seemed to 
restrain the whole army from deeds of ruffianly vio- 
lence. Whenever Pizarro wished to engage in any 
of his acts of villany, he was always careful first to 
send De Soto away on some important mission. 

They were now approaching a deep and rapid 
mountain stream, where the bridge had either been 
carried away by the recent flood or had been destroy- 
ed by the Peruvians. They were also informed that 
quite a large army was gathered upon the opposite 
bank to arrest, with the aid of the rushing torrent, 
the farther advance of the Spaniards. Pizarro imme- 
diately ordered a halt. De Soto, with a hundred 
horsemen, was sent forward to reconnoitre, and, if 
possible, to open the path. Almagro, with two hun- 
dred footmen, followed closely behind to support the 
cavalry. 

De Soto, without paying much attention to his 
infantry allies, pressed so rapidly forward as soon to 
leave them far behind. He reached the river. It 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. 1 23 

was a swollen mountain torrent. Several thousand 
natives, brandishing their javelins and their war clubs, 
stood upon the opposite bank of the stream. De 
Soto and his horsemen, without a moment's hesitation, 
plunged into the stream, and some by swimming and 
some by fording, soon crossed the foaming waters. 
As the war horses, with their steel-clad riders, came 
rushing upon the Peruvians, their keen swords flash- 
ing in the sunlight, a large part of the army fled in 
great terror. It seemed to them that supernatural 
foes had descended for their destruction. 

A few remained, and fought with the energies of 
despair. But they were powerless before the tramp- 
ling horses and the sharp weapons of their foes. 
They were cut down mercilessly, and it was the 
genius of De Soto which guided in the carnage, and 
the strong arm of De Soto which led in the bloody 
fray. And we must not forget that these Peruvians 
were fighting for their lives, their liberty, their all ; 
and that these Spaniards were ruthless invaders. 
Neither can we greatly admire the heroism displayed 
by the assailants. The man who is carefully gloved 
and masked can with impunity rob the bees of their 
honey. The wolf does not need much courage to 
induce him to leap into the fold of the lambs. 

In the vicinity of this routed army there was a 
pagan temple ; that is, a temple dedicated to the Sun, 



124 ^E SOTO. 

the emblem of the God of the Peruvians, It was in 
those days thought that the heathen and all their pos- 
sessions, rightly belonged to the Christians ; that it 
was the just desert of the pagans to be plundered and 
put to death. Even the mind of De Soto was so far 
in accord with these infamous doctrines of a benighted 
age, that he allowed his troopers to plunder the 
temple of all its rich treasures of silver and of gold. 
A very large amount of booty was thus obtained. 
One of the principal ornaments of this temple was 
an artificial sun, of large size, composed of pure and 
solid gold. 

Mr. Wilmer, speaking of this event, judiciously 
remarks : 

" De Soto, finding his path once more unob- 
structed, pushed forward, evidently disposed to open 
the way to Cuzco without the assistance of his tardy 
and irresolute commander. It is a remarkable fact, 
and one which admits of no denial, that every impor- 
tant military movement of the Spaniards in Peru, 
until the final subjugation of the empire by the cap- 
ture of the metropolis, was conducted by De Soto. 
Up to the time to which our narrative now refers, 
Pizarro had never fought a single battle which de- 
served the name. The bloody tragedy of Caxa- 
marca, it will be remembered, was only massacre ; 
the contrivance and execution of which required no 



EXECUTION OF THE INCA. 12$ 

military skill and no soldier-like courage. Pizarro 
acquired the mastery of Peru by the act of a malefac- 
tor. And he was, in fact; a thief and not a con- 
queror. The heroic element of this conquest is rep- 
resented by the actions of De Soto." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

De Soto Returns to Spain. 

Dreadful Fate of Chalcukima. — His Fortitude. — Ignominy of Pi- 
zarro. — De Soto's Advance upon Cuzco. — The Peruvian High- 
way. — Battle in the Defile. — De Soto takes the Responsibility. — ■ 
Capture of the Capital and its Conflagration. — De Soto's Return 
to Spain. — His Reception there. — Preparations for the Conquest 
of Florida. 

Considering the relations which existed between 
De Soto and Pizarro, it is not improbable that each 
was glad to be released from the presence of the 
other. It is very certain that so soon as De Soto 
was gone, Pizarro, instead of hurrying forward to sup- 
port him in the hazardous encounters to which he was 
exposed, immediately engaged, with the main body 
of his army, in plundering all the mansions of the 
wealthy and the temples on their line of march. And 
it is equally certain that De Soto, instead of waiting 
for the troops of Pizarro to come up, put spurs to his 
horse and pressed on, as if he were anxious to place 
as great a distance as possible between himself and 
his superior in command. 

Though De Soto had allowed his troops to plunder 
the temple of Xauxa, he would allow no robbery of 
private dwellings, and rigidly prohibited the slightest 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 12/ 

act of violence or injustice towards the persons of the 
natives. 

It will be remembered that Pizarro had threatened 
to hold Chalcukima responsible for any act of hostil- 
ity on the part of the Peruvians. He now summoned 
his captive before him, and charged him with treason ; 
accusing him of having incited his countrymen to 
measures of resistance. Chalcukima, with dignity 
and firmness which indicate a noble character, re- 
plied : 

" If it had been possible for me to communicate 
with the people, I should certainly have advised them 
to do their duty to their country, without any regard 
to my personal safety. But you well know that the 
vigilance with which you have guarded me, has pre- 
vented me from making any communication of the 
kind. I am sorry that it has not been in my power 
to be guilty of the fact with which you charge me." 

The wretched Pizarro, utterly incapable of appre- 
ciating the grandeur of such a character, ordered him 
to be burned at the stake. The fanatic robber and 
murderer, insulting the cross of Christ, by calling 
himself a Christian, sent his private chaplain. Friar 
Vincent, to convert Chalcukima to what he called the 
Christian faith. The priest gave an awful descrip- 
tion of the glooms of hell, to which the prisoner was 
destined as a heathen. In glowing colors he depicted 



128 DE SOTO. 

the splendors of the celestial Eden, to which he would 
be admitted the moment after his execution if he 
would accept the Christian faith. The captive coldly 
replied : 

" I do not understand your religion, and all that I 
have seen of it does not impress me in its favor." 

He was led to the stake. Not a cry escaped his 
lips, as the fierce flames consumed his quivering 
flesh. From that scene of short, sharp agony, we 
trust that his spirit ascended to be folded in the 
embrace of his Heavenly Father. It is a fundamen- 
tal principle in the teachings of Jesus, that in every 
nation he that feareth God, and doeth righteousness, 
is accepted of him. But God's ways here on earth 
are indeed past all finding out. Perhaps the future 
will solve the dreadful mystery, but at present, as we 
contemplate man's inhumanity to man, our eyes are 
often blinded with tears, and our hearts sink despair- 
ingly within us. 

De Soto pressed rapidly onwards, league after 
league, over sublime eminences and through luxuri- 
ant vales. The road was admirable : smooth and 
clean as a floor. It was constructed only for foot 
passengers, as the Peruvians had no animals larger 
than the lama or sheep. This advance-guard of the 
Spanish army, all well mounted, and inspired by the 
energies of their impetuous chief, soon reached a 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 1 29 

point where the road led over a mountain by steps 
cut in the solid rock, steep as a flight of stairs. Pre- 
cipitous cliffs rose hundreds of feet on either side. 
Here it was necessary for the troopers to dismount, 
and carefully to lead their horses by the bit up the 
difficult ascent. 

The road was winding and irregular, leading 
through the most savage scenery. This pass, at its 
summit, opened upon smooth table-land, luxuriant 
and beautiful under the influence of a tropical sun 
and mountain showers and dews. About half way 
up this pass, upon almost inaccessible crags, several 
thousand Peruvians had assembled to make another 
attempt at resistance. Arrows and javelins were of 
but little avail. Indeed they always rebounded from 
the armor of the Spaniards as from the ledges of 
eternal rock. 

But the natives had abundantly provided them- 
selves with enormous stones to roll down upon the 
heads of men and horses. Quite a band of armed 
men were also assembled upon the open plain at the 
head of the pass. As the Spaniards were almost 
dragging their horses up the gorge, suddenly the 
storm of war burst upon them. Showers of stone 
descended from the cliff from thousands of unseen 
hands. Huge boulders were pried over and went 
thundering down, crashing all opposition before then), 
6* 



1 30 DE SUTO. 

It seems now incomprehensible why the whole squad- 
ron of horsemen was not destroyed. But in this aw- 
ful hour the self-possession of De Soto did not for 
one moment forsake him. He shouted to his men : 

" If we halt here, or attempt to go back, we must 
certainly perish. Our only safety is in pressing for- 
ward. As soon as we reach the top of the pass, w'e 
can easily put these men to flight." 

Suiting his action to his words, and being at the 
head of his men, he pushed forward with almost frantic 
energy, carefully watching and avoiding the descend- 
ing missiles. Though several horses and many men 
were killed, and others sorely wounded, the majority 
soon reached the head of the pass. They then had 
an unobstructed plain before them, over which their 
horses could gallop in any direction at their utmost 
speed. 

Impetuously they fell upon the band collected 
there, who wielded only the impotent weapons of ar- 
rows, javelins and war clubs. The Spaniards, exas- 
perated by the death of their comrades, and by their 
own wounds, took desperate vengeance. No quarter 
was shown. Their sabres dripped with blood. Few 
could escape the swift-footed steeds. The dead were 
trampled beneath iron hoofs. Night alone ended the 
carnage. 

During the night the Peruvians bravely rallied 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 131 

from their wide dispersion over the mountains, re- 
solved in their combined force to make another at- 
tempt to resist their foes. They were conscious that 
should they fail here, their case was hopeless. 

At the commencement of the conflict a courier 
had been sent back, by De Soto, to urge Almagro to 
push forward his infantry as rapidly as possible. By 
a forced march they pressed on through the hours of 
the night, almost upon the run. The early dawn 
brought them to the pass. Soon the heart of De 
Soto was cheered as he heard their bugle blasts re- 
verberating among the cliffs of the mountains. Their 
banners appeared emerging from the defile, and two 
hundred well-armed men joined his ranks. 

Though the Peruvians were astonished at this ac- 
cession to the number of their foes, they still came 
bravely forward to the battle. It was another scene 
of slaughter for the poor Peruvians. They inflicted 
but little harm upon the Spaniards, while hundreds 
of their slain soon strewed the ground. 

The Spanish infantry, keeping safely beyond the 
reach of arrow or javelin, could, with the deadly bul- 
let, bring down a Peruvian as fast as they could load 
and fire, while the horsemen could almost with im- 
punity plunge into the densest ranks of the foe. The 
Peruvians were vanquished, dispersed, and cut down, 
until the Spaniards even were weary with carnage. 



132 DE SOTO, 

This was the most important battle which was fought 
in the conquest of Peru. 

The field was but twenty-five miles from the cap- 
ital, to which the army could now advance by an al- 
most unobstructed road. De Soto was anxious to 
press on immediately and take possession of the city. 
He however yielded to the earnest entreaties of Al- 
magro, and consented to remain where he was with 
his band of marauders. This delay, in a military 
point of view, proved to be very unfortunate. Had 
they gone immediately forward, the vanquished and 
panic-stricken Peruvians would not have ventured 
upon another encounter. But Almagro was the 
friend of Pizarro, dependent upon him, and had been 
his accomplice in many a deed of violence. He was 
anxious that Pizarro should have the renown of a 
conqueror, and should enjoy the triumph of riding at 
the head of his troops into the streets of the van- 
quished capital. 

This delay of several days gave the Peruvians 
time to recover from their consternation, and they or- 
ganized another formidable line of defense in a valley 
which the Spaniards would be compelled to traverse, 
a few miles from the city. Pizarro was still several 
miles in the rear. De Soto dispatched a courier to 
him, informing him of the new encounter to which 
the army was exposed, and stating that the Peruvians 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. I 33 

were well posted, and that every hour of delay added 
to their strength. Still Pizarro loitered behind ; still 
Almagro expressed his decided reluctance to advance 
before Pizarro's arrival. To add to De Soto's embar- 
rassments, he declared that De Soto was acting with- 
out authority and in direct opposition to the orders of 
his superior. After a little hesitancy De Soto re- 
solved to take the responsibility and to advance. He 
said to Almagro : 

" A soldier who is entrusted with an important 
command, is not bound in all cases to await the orders 
of his superior. Where there is manifestly an im- 
portant advantage to be gained, he must be allowed 
to act according to his own discretion." 

He then appealed to his own dragoons, saying to 
them : 

" The whole success of our expedition now de- 
pends upon the celerity of our movements. While 
we are waiting for Pizarro, our best chance for vic- 
tory will be lost." 

With one united voice the dragoons of De Soto 
demanded to be led forward. Availing himself of 
this enthusiasm, De Soto put his troops in motion. 
The Peruvians were a few miles in advance, strongly 
posted in a deep and rugged ravine, where they 
hoped that the movements of the horses would be so 
impeded that they could accomplish but little. They 



134 I^E SOTO. 

pressed forward, and the battle was immediately com- 
menced. Both parties fought with great fury. In 
the midst of the conflict a large re-enforcement of 
the natives came rushing upon the field, under the 
leadership of a young Peruvian noble, who displayed 
truly chivalric courage and energy. De Soto was 
ever where the blows fell thickest and where danger 
was most imminent. 

Quite a number of the Peruvians were slain, and 
many dead horses were strewed over the field. At 
one time De Soto, separated from his comrades by the 
surging tides of the battle, found himself surrounded 
by twenty Peruvians, who, with arrows, javelins and 
battle clubs,assailed him with the utmost impetuosity. 
Javelins and arrows glanced harmless from the Span- 
ish armor. But war clubs, armed with copper and 
wielded by sinewy arms, were formidable weapons 
even for the belted knight to encounter. De Soto, 
with his keen and ponderous sword, cut his way 
through his assailants, strewing the ground with the 
dead. The young Peruvian, who, it is said, was heir 
to the throne of the Inca, had assumed the general 
command. 

He gazed with astonishment upon the exploits of 
De Soto, and said in despairing tones to his attend- 
ants : " It is useless to contend with such enemies ! 
These men are destined to be our masters." 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. I 35 

Immediately he approached De Soto, throwing 
down his arms, advancing alone, and indicating by 
gestures that he was ready to surrender. The battle 
at once ceased, and most of the Peruvian army rushed 
precipitately back towards the city. In a state of 
frenzy they applied the torch in all directions, re- 
solved to thwart the avarice of the conqueror by lay- 
ing the whole city and all its treasures in ashes. The 
inhabitants of Cuzco, almost without exception, fled. 
Each one seized upon whatever of value could be 
carried away. Volumes of smoke and the bursting 
flames soon announced to the Spaniards the doom of 
the city. 

De Soto and his dragoons put spurs to their 
horses and hastened forward, hoping to extinguish 
the conflagration. Now that the battle was fought 
and the victory won, Francisco Pizarro, with his band 
of miscreants, came rushing on to seize the plunder. 

" They came like wolves or jackals to fatten on 
the prey which never could have been attained by 
their own courage or prowess. The disappointment 
of Pizarro and his congenial associates, when they 
found that the principal wealth of the city had been 
carried off by the Peruvians, vented itself in acts of 
diabolical cruelty. They seized on the aged and sick 
persons who had been unable to escape, and put many 
of them to the torture to make them confess where 



136 DE SOTO. 

the treasures of Cuzco were concealed. Either these 
unfortunate people could not give the information re- 
quired, or they had sufficient firmness to endure 
agony and death rather than betray the consecrated 
treasures of their national monuments and altars into 
the hands of their enemies." '*■' 

It was late in the afternoon of a November day, 
1533, when the dragoons of De Soto, closely followed 
by the whole Spanish army, entered the burning 
streets of Cuzco. They ran about eagerly in all di- 
rections searching for gold in the blazing palaces and 
temples. Thus an immense amount of spoil was 
found, which the Peruvians had been unable to re- 
move. It is said that after one-fifth had been sub- 
stracted for the Spanish crown, and the officers had 
received their abundant shares, the common soldiers, 
four hundred and eighty in number, received each 
one a sum amounting to four thousand dollars. 

Peru was conquered, but the victors had indeed 
gained a loss. Nearly all who were engaged in the 
enterprise perished miserably. Almagro was event- 
ually taken captive by the Peruvians and strangled. 
Hernando Pizarro, returning to Spain, languished for 
weary years in a prison. The younger brother was 
beheaded. Friar Vincent, who had given the sup- 
port of religion to many of the most atrocious of 
* Life of P'erdinand De Soto, by Lambert A. Wilmer, p. 272. 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 137 

these crimes, fell into an ambush with a small party, 
and they all were massacred. Francisco Pizarro him- 
self fell a victim to a conspiracy among his own sol- 
diers, and at mid-day was put to death in his own 
palace. But we must leave these wild men to their 
career of cruelty and crime, while we follow the foot- 
steps of De Soto. 

Early in the year 1534, De Soto took leave of his 
comrades in Peru, and embarked for Spain. He had 
left his native land in poverty. He now returned af- 
ter an absence of about fifteen years, greatly enriched, 
prepared in opulence as well as in illustrious birth to 
take his stand with the proudest grandees of that 
then opulent realm. His last labors in Peru were 
spent in unavailing endeavors to humanize the spirit 
of his countrymen there, and to allay the bitter feuds 
which were springing up among them. But his de- 
parture seemed to remove from them all restraints, 
and Spaniards and Peruvians alike were whelmed in 
a common ruin. 

No account has been transmitted to us of De 
Soto's return voyage. While he was in Peru, Don 
Pedro had died. His sick-bed was a scene of linger- 
ing agony, both of body and of mind. The proud 
spirit is sometimes vanquished and crushed by re- 
morse ; but it is never, by those scorpion lashes, sub- 
dued, and rendered humble and gentle and lovable. 



138 DE SOTO. 

The dying sinner, whose soul was crimsoned with 
guilt, was overwhelmed with " a certain fearful look- 
ing for of judgment and fiery indignation." The ec- 
clesiastics, who surrounded his death-bed, assured him 
that such sins as he had been guilty of could only be 
expiated by the most liberal benefactions to the 
church. He had never forgiven Isabella for her per- 
tinacious adherence to De Soto. In the grave he 
could not prohibit their nuptials. By bequeathing 
his wealth to the church, he could accomplish a double 
object. He could gratify his revenge by leaving his 
daughter penniless, and thus De Soto, if he contin- 
ued faithful, would be compelled to receive to his 
arms a dowerless bride ; and a miserable superstition 
taught him that he could thus bribe God to throw 
open to him the gates of paradise. 

Don Pedro's eldest daughter, Maria, was engaged 
to be married to Vasco Nufiez, the very worthy gov- 
ernor who had preceded Don Pedro at Darien, and 
whom he had so infamously beheaded. She had spent 
fifteen years in her father's castle in the gloom and 
tears of this cruel widowhood. Don Pedro bequeathed 
nearly all his fortune to the endowment of a monas- 
tery, over which Maria was appointed abbess. Isa- 
bella was left unprovided for. Thus suddenly the rel- 
ative position of the two lovers was entirely changed. 
De Soto found himself in possession of large wealth. 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 1 39 

Isabella was reduced to poverty. We know not 
where to find, in the annals of history, the record of 
a more beautiful attachment than that which, during 
fifteen years of separation, trial, and sorest tempta- 
tions, had united the hearts of De Soto and Isabella. 
Their love commenced when they were children, 
walking hand in hand, and playing in the bowers of 
Don Pedro's ancestral castle. 

De Soto had now attained the age of thirty-five 
years. Isabella was only a few years younger. When 
we contemplate her youth, her beauty, the long years 
of absence, without even a verbal message passing 
between them, the deadly hostility of her father to 
the union, and the fact that her hand had been re- 
peatedly solicited by the most wealthy of the Span- 
ish nobility, this fidelity of Isabella to her youthful 
love is one of the most remarkable in the records of 
time. 

"During the long separation," says Mr. Wilmer, 
" of these exemplary lovers, many important changes 
had taken place. Time and sorrow had somewhat 
dimmed the lustre of Isabella's beauty. But she was 
still the fairest among ten thousand, and De Soto 
was too deeply enamored and too justly appreciative 
to value her the less, because the rose had partially 
faded from her cheek." 

Immediately upon De Soto's return to Spain, as 



140 DE SOTO. 

all obstacles to their union were removed, the nuptial 
ceremony was performed. The voice of fame had 
already proclaimed De Soto as the real conqueror of 
Peru. As such, he had not only enriched himself, 
but had also greatly enriched the Spanish crown. All 
eyes were fixed upon him. It is said that at once he 
became the most noted and most popular man in the 
kingdom. He and his bride were received at the 
Spanish court with the most flattering marks of dis- 
tinction. In his style of living he assumed almost 
regal splendor. He had acquired his money very 
suddenly, and he lavished it with an unsparing hand. 
A contemporary annalist writes : 

" He kept a steward, a gentleman usher, several 
pages, a gentleman of the horse, a chamberlain, a 
footman, and all other officers that the house of a 
nobleman requires." 

One of the most splendid mansions in Seville he 
selected for his residence, and in less than two years 
he found that one-half of his princely fortune had 
melted away. They were two years of adulation, of 
self-indulgence, of mental intoxication. It was a de- 
lirious dream from which he suddenly awoke. Re- 
flection taught him that he must immediately curtail 
his expenses, and very seriously, or engage in some 
new enterprise to replenish his wasting purse. 

The region of North America called Florida, a 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 141 

territory of undefined and boundless ej^tent, was then 
attracting much attention as a fresh field for the ac- 
quisition of gold and glory. Several expeditions had 
touched upon the unknown coast, but from various 
causes had proved entire failures. Eight years be- 
fore this De Narvaez had visited the country with 
three hundred adventurers. He found the natives 
far more warlike than the Peruvians, and the country 
more difficult of access. De Narvaez himself, and 
nearly all his band, fell before the fury of the Floridians. 
Five only escaped. One of these, Cabaca de Vaca, a 
man of glowing imagination, and who held the pen of 
a ready writer, wrote a Baron Munchausen account of 
the expedition. He descanted upon the delicious 
clime, the luxuriant soil, the populous cities, the 
architectural splendor of the edifices, and the inex- 
haustible mines of silver and of gold. There was no 
one to call his account in question. His extravagant 
stories were generally believed. 

De Soto, who was in the prime of his vigorous 
manhood, having as yet only attained his thirty-seventh 
year, read this narrative and pondered these statements 
with enthusiasm. A couple of years of inaction in his 
luxurious saloons had inspired him with new zeal for 
romantic adventure ; and to this there was added the 
powerful motive of the necessity of retrieving his for- 
tunes. He believed that gold could be gathered in 



142 DE SOTO. 

Florida, even more abundantly than in Peru ; that by 
the aid of the crown a numerous colony might be 
established where, under genial skies, every man 
could be put into possessron of broad acres of the 
most luxuriant soil. And he felt fully confident that 
his long experience on the isthmus and in Peru, qual- 
ified him in the highest degree to be the leader of 
such an enterprise. 

In these views he was sustained by the common 
sentiment of the whole community. De Soto applied 
to the king of Spain, the Emperor Charles Plfth, for 
permission to organize an expedition, at his own 
expense, for the conquest of P'lorida. He offered to 
the crown, as usual for its share, one-fifth of the 
plunder. 

Eagerly the Emperor, who was always in need of 
money, accepted the proposition, " asking no questions, 
for conscience' sake." The Emperor was very profuse 
in conferring honors and titles upon his heroic sub- 
ject. He appointed him governor of the island of 
Cuba, which he was to make the base of his opera- 
tions, investing him with almost dictatorial powers as 
both military and civil governor. He also granted 
him a private estate in Florida, with the title of mar- 
quis, in whatever part of the country he might choose. 
This magnificent estate was to consist of a region, 
ninety miles long and forty-five miles wide. 



DE SOTO RETURNS TO SPAIN. 1 43 

As soon as it was known throughout Spain that 
De Soto was about to embark on such an enterprise, 
volunteers began to flock to his standard. He would 
accept of none but the most vigorous young men, 
whom he deemed capable of enduring the extremes 
of toil and hardship. In a few months nine hundred 
and fifty men were assembled at San Lucar, eager to 
embark. Many of these were sons of the wealthy 
nobles, who were thoroughly equipped in splendid 
style, with costly armor, and accompanied by a train 
of servants. 

Twenty-four ecclesiastics, of various grades, joined 
the expedition, whose arduous task it was to convert the 
natives to that religion of the Spaniards which allowed 
them to rob their houses and their temples, to mal- 
treat their wives and daughters, to set fire to their 
villages, to hunt them down with bloodhounds, and to 
trample them under the iron hoofs of their fiery steeds. 

Never before had an expedition set out so abun- 
dantly supplied. Not only was every necessity pro- 
vided for, but luxury and even wasteful extravagance 
reigned through the armament. De Soto himself 
was a man of magnificent tastes. Many who were 
with him in Peru, and had become there enriched, 
had joined the enterprise. And the young nobles of 
Spain surrounded themselves with the conveniences 
and splendor which large wealth could furnish. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Landing in Florida. 

The Departure from Spain. — Arrival in Cuba. — Leonora and To- 
bar. — Isabella Invested with the Regency. — Sad Life of Isabella. — 
Sailing of the Expedition. — The Landing at Tampa Bay. — Out- 
rages of Narvaez. — Noble Spirit of Ucita. — Unsuccessful Enter- 
prises. — Disgrace and Return of Porcallo. 

The brilliant armament sprea.d its sails to a favor- 
able breeze at the port of San Lucar, on the morning 
of the sixth of April, 1538. The squadron consisted 
of seven large ships, and three smaller vessels. It 
must have been an imposing and busy scene in that 
little bay, upon which the sun looked serenely down 
three hundred years ago. In addition to the Flo- 
ridian fleet, there was another squadron of twenty-six 
sail, at the same time weighing anchor, bound for 
Mexico. Bugle peals resounded from ship and shore, 
while salvoes of artillery swept over the waves and 
reverberated among the cliffs. 

Isabella accompanied her husband, and quite an 
imposing train of attendants was attached to the gov- 
ernor's family. The sail of a fortnight brought them 
to the Canary Islands. The Count Gomera, a Span- 
ish nobleman, was in command. No religious scru- 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. 145 

pies lent their restraints to his luxurious court. He 
had a very beautiful daughter, seventeen years of age, 
named Leonora. The father loved her tenderly. He 
was perhaps anxious to shield her from the deleteri- 
ous influences with which she was surrounded. The 
high moral worth of Isabella impressed him ; and 
arrangements were made for Leonora to accompany 
Isabella to Cuba, as a companion, to be .treated in all 
respects as her own daughter. 

On the twenty-fourth of April the fleet again set 
sail, and reached St. Jago de Cuba the latter part of 
May. This city was then the capital of the island. 
It was situated on the southern shore, at the head of 
a bay running inland about six miles. It was then 
quite populous, and was opulent with the wealth of 
which previous Spanish adventurers had robbed the 
unhappy Cubans. The whole city turned out with 
music, and banners and gorgeous processions, to give 
a suitable reception to their new governor. 

A grand tournament was held on the occasion. 
Among the cavaliers who were contending for the 
prizes there was a young nobleman, Nuno de Tobar, 
who was De Soto's lieutenant-general. He was one 
of the most accomplished of the Spanish grandees, 
and bore off many of the prizes. The beauty of Leo- 
nora won his admiration. They were thrown much 
together, and he betrayed her. At the confessional 
7 



146 DE SOTO. 

Leonora opened her heart to the priest. It is proba- 
ble that he communicated with the governor. De 
Soto's indignation was thoroughly roused. He sum- 
moned the culprit before him. Tobar, deeming his 
offense a very trivial one, without hesitation acknowl- 
edged it, thinking, perhaps, that he might receive 
some slight reprimand. He was not a little surprised 
when the governor said in indignant tones : 

" Leonora was placed under my care by her 
father. I pledged myself to protect her at the hazard 
of my own life. To-morrow morning you must meet 
me in single combat, where you will have a chance to 
protect the life you have justly forfeited." 

There was no man probably, in the whole Spanish 
army, who could safely cross swords with De Soto in 
mortal strife. Tobar was appalled. He well knew 
that in such a rencontre death was his inevitable 
doom. Overwhelmed with confusion, he said : 

" I have not committed a capital crime. If I had, 
I should not expect your Excellency to be my execu- 
tioner. It is impossible for me to contend with you 
in single combat. By accepting your challenge, I 
doom myself to certain destruction." 

De Soto replied : " Your crime is not a trivial 
one. You cannot evade the consequences by refus- 
ing to meet them. To say nothing of the wrong you 
have done this unhappy girl, your treachery to me 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. 1 47 

deserves the punishment of a traitor. You may 
choose whether you will die like a soldier, sword in 
hand, or like a criminal, under the axe of the execu- 
tioner." 

Tobar withdrew. He hastened to the room of the 
confessor. With him he called upon Leonora, and, 
taking a few witnesses, repaired to the church, where 
the marriage ceremony was immediately performed. 
Within an hour he returned to the governor and 
informed him that he had made all the reparation in 
his power. De Soto, his brow still clouded with 
severe displeasure, replied : 

" You have saved your life, but you can never 
regain my confidence. You are no longer my lieu- 
tenant. That ofQce can be held only by one whose 
honor is unsullied." 

De Soto remained about three months in Cuba, 
making a tour of the island, establishing his govern- 
ment, purchasing horses, and making other prepara- 
tions for the expedition to Florida. While thus 
engaged, he sent a vessel, with a picked crew, to 
coast along the shores of the land he was about to 
invade, in search of a commodious harbor, where his 
troops might disembark. After many perilous adven- 
tures, the vessel returned with a satisfactory report. 

The fleet, and all the armament it was to bear, 
were rendezvoused at Havana, on the northern coast 



148 DE SOTO. 

of Cuba, where a fair wind in a few hours would con- 
vey them to the shores of Florida. On the twelfth 
of May, some authorities say the eighteenth, of the 
year 1539, the expedition set sail upon one of the 
most disastrous adventures in which heroic men ever 
engaged. Terrible as were the woes they inflicted 
upon the natives, no less dreadful were the calamities 
which they drew down upon themselves. 

Isabella had been anxious to accompany her hus- 
band to Florida. But he, aware of the hardships and 
perils to which they would be exposed, would not 
give his consent. She consequently remained at 
Cuba, entrusted with the regency of the island. She 
never saw her husband again. Poor Isabella ! In 
sadness she had waited fifteen years for her nuptials. 
Two short years had glided away like a dream in the 
night. And then, after three years of intense anx- 
iety, during which she heard almost nothing of her 
husband, the tidings reached her of his death. It was 
a fatal blow to her faithful and loving heart. World- 
weary and sorrow-crushed, she soon followed him to 
the spirit-land. Such is life ; not as God has appoint- 
ed it, but as sin has made it. 

The expedition consisted of eight large ships, a 
caraval, and two brigantines. They were freighted 
with everything which could be deemed needful to 
conquer the country, and then to colonize it. The 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. 149 

force embarked, in addition to the sailors who worked 
the ships, consisted of a thousand thoroughly armed 
men, and three hundred and fifty horses. Contrary 
winds gave them a slow passage across the gulf On 
the twenty-fifth of May they entered the harbor of 
which they were in search. It was on the western 
coast of the magnificent peninsula. De Soto then 
gave it the name of Espiritu Santo. It is now how- 
ever known as Tampa Bay. 

As they entered the harbor beacon fires were seen 
blazing along the eminences, indicating that the 
natives had taken the alarm, and were preparing for 
resistance. Several days were employed in cautious 
sounding of the harbor and searching for a suitable 
landing-place, as it seemed probable that opposition 
was to be encountered. On the last day of May, a 
detachment of three hundred soldiers landed on the 
beach and took possession of the land in the name of 
Charles the Fifth. The serene day was succeeded 
by a balmy night. Not an Indian was to be seen ; 
and the bloom, luxuriance and fruitage of the tropics, 
spread enchantingly around them. 

The hours of the night passed away undisturbed. 
But just before dawn a terrific war-whoop resounded 
through the forest, as from a thousand throats, and a 
band of Indian warriors came rushing down, hurling 
upon the invaders a shower of arrows and javelins. 



ISO DE SOTO. 

The attack was so sudden and impetuous that the 
Spaniards were thrown into a panic. They rushed 
for their boats, and with loudest bugle peals, called 
for aid from their companions in the ships. The 
summons met with a prompt response. Boats were 
immediately lowered, and a large party of steel-clad 
men and horses were sent to their aid. 

When Nufio Tobar was degraded, and dismissed 
from his office as lieutenant-general, a rich, hair- 
brained Spanish nobleman, by the name of Vasco 
Porcallo, took his place. He was a gay cavalier, 
brave even to recklessness, of shallow intellect, but a 
man who had seen much hard service in the battle- 
fields of those days. He was very rich, residing at 
Trinidad in Cuba. He joined the enterprise for the 
conquest of Florida, influenced by an instinctive love 
of adventure, and by the desire to kidnap Indians to 
work as slaves on his plantations. The valiant Por- 
callo headed the party sent to the rescue of those on 
shore. 

In such an adventure he was entirely in his ele- 
ment. Immediately upon landing he put spurs to his 
horse and, accompanied by only seven dragoons, with 
his sabre flashing in the air, plunged into the very 
thickest of the Indians. Soqji they were put to 
flight. An Indian arrow, however, pierced his saddle 
and its housings, and reached the vitals of his horse. 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. I5I 

The noble steed dropped dead beneath him. Por- 
callo was quite proud of his achievement, and boasted 
not a Httlc that his arm had put the infidels, as he 
called the Indians, to flight, and that his horse was 
the first to fall in the encounter. 

During the day all the troops were disembarked 
and encamped upon the shore. It was reported that 
there was quite a populous Indian town at the dis- 
tance of about six miles from the place of landing. 
While the ammunition and commissary stores were 
being brought on shore, the little army marched for 
this village. It was the residence of the chief of the 
powerful tribe who occupied that region. His name 
was Ucita, and from him the village received the 
same appellation. 

The Spaniards met with no opposition on their 
march. But when they reached the village they 
found it entirely deserted. It was quite a large 
town, the houses being built substantially of timber, 
thatched with palm leaves. Many of these edifices 
were large and commodious, containing several 
rooms. Their articles of household furniture were 
convenient, and some of them quite elegant. The 
dresses, especially those of the females, were artistic 
and often highly ornamental. Very beautiful shawls 
and mantillas were manufactured by them. Their 
finest fabrics were woven by the hand from the 



152 DE SOTO. 

fibrous bark of the mulberry-tree and hemp, which 
grew wild and in abundance. The natives had 
acquired the art of rich coloring, and the garments 
thus manufactured by them were often really beauti- 
ful. The walls of the houses of the wealthier citizens 
were hung with tapestry of very softly tanned and 
richly prepared buckskin ; and carpets of the same 
material were spread upon the floors. 

The Floridians were not acquainted with iron, 
that most indispensable article with nations of high 
enlightenment. But they had succeeded in impart- 
ing a temper to copper, so as to give many of their 
tools quite a keen edge. Though the inhabitants of 
Florida had not attained that degree of civilization 
which had been reached by the Peruvians, it will be 
seen that they were immeasurably in advance of the 
savages in the northern portion of the continent, and 
that their homes far surpassed those of the peasantry 
of Ireland, and were more tasteful and commodious 
than the log huts which European emigrants erect as 
their first home in the wilderness of the West. They 
cultivated the ground mainly for their subsistence, 
though hunting and fishing were resorted to, then as 
now, for recreation as well as for food. 

De Soto took possession of the deserted village, 
and occupied the houses of the inhabitants as bar- 
racks for his soldiers. A few straggling Indians 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. 1 53 

were taken captive. From them he learned that he 
was doomed to suffer for the infamous conduct of the 
Spanish adventurer, Narvaez, who had preceded him 
in a visit to this region. This vile man had been 
guilty of the most inhuman atrocities. He had caused 
the mother of the chief Ucita to be torn to pieces by 
bloodhounds, and in a transport of passion had aw- 
fully mutilated Ucita himself, by cutting off his nose. 
Consequently, the chief and all his people were exas- 
perated to the highest degree. The injuries they had 
received were such as could never be forgiven or for- 
gotten. 

De Soto was very anxious to cultivate friendly 
relations with the Indians. Whatever may have been 
his faults, his whole career thus far had shown him to 
be by nature a kind-hearted and upright man, hating 
oppression and loving justice. The faults of his 
character rather belonged to the age in which he 
lived, than to the individual man. No military leader 
has ever yet been able to restrain the passions of his 
soldiers. Wherever an army moves, there will always 
be, to a greater or less degree, plunder and violence. 
De Soto earnestly endeavored to introduce strict dis- 
cipline among his troops. He forbade the slightest 
act of injustice or disrespect towards the Indians. 
Whenever a captive was taken, he treated him as a 
father would treat a child, and returned him to his 
7* 



154 



DE SOTO. 



home laden with presents. He availed himself of 
every opportunity to send friendly messages to Ucita. 
But the mutilated chief was in no mood to be pla- 
^cated. His only reply to these kind words was, 

" I want none of the speeches or promises of the 
Spaniards. Bring me their heads and I will receive 
them joyfully." 

The energies of De Soto inspired his whole camp. 
The provisions and munitions of war were promptly 
landed and conveyed to Ucita. The place was 
strongly fortified, and a hardy veteran, named Pedro 
Calderon, was placed in command of the garrison 
entrusted with its defence. All the large ships were 
sent back to Cuba, probably to obtain fresh supplies 
of military stores ; some say that it was to teach the 
army that, there being no possibility of escape, it now 
must depend upon its own valor for existence. 

De Soto was very unwilling to set out for a march 
into the interior for discovery and in search of gold, 
while leaving so powerful a tribe as that over which 
Ucita reigned, in hostility behind him. He therefore 
sent repeated messages to Ucita expressing his utter 
detestation of the conduct of Narvaez ; his desire to 
do everything in his power to repair the wrong which 
had been inflicted upon him, and his earnest wish to 
establish friendly relations with the deeply-injured 
chief. 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. 1 55 

These reiterated friendly advances, ever accom- 
panied by correspondent action, at length in some 
slight degree mitigated the deadly rancor of Ucita, 
so that instead of returning a message of defiance 
and hate, he sent back the truly noble response : 

" The memory of my injuries prevents me from 
returning a kind reply to your messages, and your 
courtesy is such that it will not allow me to return a 
harsh answer." 

The man who, under these circumstances, could 
frame such a reply, must have been one of nature's 
noblemen. De Soto could appreciate the grandeur 
of such a spirit. While these scenes were transpir- 
ing, a man was brought into the camp, in Indian cos- 
tume, who announced himself as a Spaniard by the 
name of Juan Ortiz. He had been one of the ad- 
venturers under Narvaez. In the extermination of 
that infamous band he had been taken captive and 
bound to the stake, to be consumed. He was then 
but eighteen years of age, tall and very handsome. 
As the tongues of torturing flame began to eat into 
his quivering flesh, cries of agony were extorted 
from him. 

He was in the hands of a powerful chief, whose 
daughter is represented as a very beautiful princess, by 
the name of Uleleh. She was about sixteen years of age, 
and could not endure the scene. She threw her arms 



156 DE SOTO. 

around her father's neck, and with tears of anguish 
pleaded that his life might be saved. He was res- 
cued ; and though for a time he suffered extreme 
cruelty, he eventually became adopted, as it were, 
into the tribe, and for ten years had resided among the 
Indians, sometimes regarded as a captive, upon whom 
heavy burdens could be imposed, and again treated 
with great kindness. Juan Ortiz being thus familiar 
with the habits of the natives and their language, 
became an invaluable acquisition to the adventurers. 

De Soto inquired very earnestly of him respecting 
the country and the prospect of finding any region 
abounding with silver and gold. Ortiz had but little 
information to give, save that, at the distance of about 
a hundred miles from where they then were, there 
was a great chief named Uribaracaxi, to whom all the 
adjacent chiefs were tributary. His realms were rep- 
resented as far more extensive, populous, and rich 
than those of the surrounding chieftains. De Soto 
dispatched a band of sixty horsemen and sixty foot sol- 
diers with presents and messages of friendship to Uri- 
baracaxi. The object of the expedition was to explore 
the country and to make inquiries respecting gold. 

A weary march of about forty miles brought the 
party to the village of Mucozo, where Ortiz had 
resided for some years. The chief of this tribe, 
whose name was also Mucozo, was brother-in-law to 



THE I.ANDING IN FLORIDA. 1 57 

Uribaracaxi. Mucozo received the Spaniards with 
great hospitaUty, and learning that they were on a 
friendly visit to Uribaracaxi, furnished them with a 
guide. Four days were occupied in a tedious march 
through a country where pathless morasses continu- 
ally embarrassed their progress. 

This expedition was under the command of Bal- 
thazar de Gallegos. He reached his point of destina- 
tion in safety. But the chief, deeming it not pru- 
dent to trust himself in the hands of the Spaniards, 
whose renown for fiendish deeds had filled the land, 
had retired from his capital, and nearly all the inhab- 
itants had fled with him. He left for his uninvited 
guests no message either of welcome or defiance. 
Gallegos found all his attempts to open any communi- 
cations with him unavailing. There was no plunder 
in the city worth seizing, and De Soto's commands to 
the expedition were very strict, to treat the Indians 
with the utmost kindness and humanity. 

• Gallegos made earnest inquiries of the Indians 
whom he met, as to the provinces where gold and sil- 
ver could be found. They told him that there was a 
country many leagues west of them, of marvellous 
luxuriance and beauty, where gold was found in such 
abundance that the warriors had massive shields and 
helmets made of that precious metal. The more 
shrewd of the Spaniards placed very little reliance 



158 DE SOTO. 

upon this testimony. They thought they saw evi- 
dence that the Indians were ready to fabricate any 
story by which they could rid themselves of their 
visitors. 

Soon after the departure of Gallegos, De Soto 
received Ihe intelligence that the chief Ucita had 
taken refuge in a forest, surrounded with swamps, 
not far from the Spanish camp. The vainglorious 
Porcallo was exceedingly indignant that the Indian 
chief should presume to hold himself aloof from all 
friendly advances. He entreated De Soto to grant 
him the privilege of capturing the fugitive. De Soto 
complied with his request. The impetuous old man, 
fond of parade, and lavish of his wealth, selected a 
band of horsemen and footmen, all of whom were gor- 
geously apparelled for the occasion. He, himself, was 
mounted on a magnificent steed and cased in glitter- 
ing armor. 

It seems that the noble Ucita kept himself well 
informed of every movement of the invaders. With 
a spirit of magnanimity which would have done honor 
to the best Christian in the Spanish ranks, he sent a 
courier to meet Porcallo, and to say to him, 

" You will only expose yourself to infinite peril 
from the rivers, morasses, and forests through which 
you will have to pass in your attempt to reach my 
retreat. My position is so secure that all your 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. 1 59 

attempts to take me will result only in your own loss. 
I do not send you this message from any fears on my 
own account, but because your leader, De Soto, has 
manifested so much forbearance in not injuring my 
territory or my subjects." 

It is really refreshing to find here and there, 
among all these demoniac deeds of demoniac men, 
some remaining traces of that nobility of character 
which man had before the fall, when created in God's 
image he was but little lower than the angels. Man, 
as we see him developed in history, is indeed a ruin, 
but the ruin of a once noble fabric. When we think 
of what man might be, in all generous afiections, and 
then think of what man is, it is enough to cause one 
to weep tears of blood. 

Porcallo could not appreciate the magnanimity of 
Ucita. He regarded the message as one of the strat- 
agems of war, dictated either by fear or cowardice. 
He therefore ordered the trumpets to sound the 
advance, his only fear being, that the chief might 
escape. Porcallo, a Quixotic knight, had no element 
of timidity in his character. He led his troops. He 
never said " Go," but " Follow." Pressing rapidly 
forward, the little band soon arrived upon the border 
of a vast and dismal morass, utterly pathless, stretch- 
ing out many leagues in extent. 

The hot-headed cavalier, thinking that the swamp 



l66 DE SOTO. 

might be waded, put spurs to his horse and dashed 
forward. He had advanced but a few rods when the 
horse, struggling knee-deep through the mire, stum- 
bled and fell. One of the legs of the rider was so 
caught beneath the animal as to pin him inextricably 
in the morass, covering him with water and with mud. 
The weight of his armor sank him deeper in the 
mire, and in the desperate struggles of the steed for 
extrication, he was in great danger of being suffocated. 
None could come to his aid without danger of being 
swallowed up in the bog. 

The unfeeling and brutal soldiers stood upon the 
borders of the morass with shouts of merriment, as 
they witnessed the sudden discomfiture of their 
leader ; a discomfiture the more ludicrous, in con- 
trast with his gorgeous attire, and his invariably 
proud and lofty bearing. At length Porcallo extri- 
cated himself, and, drenched with water, and covered 
with mud, led his equally bemired steed to the land. 
He was humiliated and enraged. The derision of the 
soldiers stung him to the quick. He had embarked 
in the expedition to gain glory and slaves. He had 
encountered disgrace ; and the prospect of kidnap- 
ping the natives, under such a leader as De Soto had 
proved himself to be, was very small. 

It is probable that before this disaster he had seri- 
ously contemplated abandoning the expedition and 



THE LANDING IN FLORIDA. l6l 

returning to his princely mansion in Trinidad. Or- 
dering his men to" face about, he sullenly and silently 
returned to the Spanish camp. Throwing up his 
commission with disgust, he embarked for Cuba, and 
we hear of him no more. 

" His train of servants," writes Mr. Theodore 
Irving, " Spanish, Indian and negro, were embarked 
with all speed. But when the gallant old cavalier 
came to take leave of his young companions in arms, 
and the soldiers he had lately aspired to lead so vain- 
gloriously, his magnificent spirit broke forth. He 
made gifts to the right and left, dividing among the 
officers and knights all the arms, accoutrements, 
horses and camp equipage, with which he had come 
so lavishly and so ostentatiously provided, and gave, 
for the use of the army, all the ample store of provi- 
sions and munitions brought for the use of himself 
and his retinue. This done, he bade farewell to cam- 
paigning and set sail for Cuba, much to the regret of 
the army, who lamented that so gallant a spirit 
should have burned out so soon." * 

Indeed, it is stated in what is called " The Portu- 
guese Narrative " of these events, that Porcallo and 
De Soto had already quarrelled so decisively that 
they were no longer on speaking terms. Porcallo, 
thoroughly destitute of moral principle, was a slave 

* Conquest of Florida, by Theodore Irving, p. 8i. 



1 62 DE SOTO. 

hunter ; a character whom De Soto thoroughly de- 
spised, and whose operations he 'would not on any 
account allow to be carried on in his army. Porcallo 
therefore found no difficulty in obtaining permission 
to retire from the service. Probably both the gov- 
ernor and his lieutenant were equally happy to be rid 
of each other. 




M 



'\^ 



CHAPTER X. 

The March to Ochile. 

The March Commenced. — The Swamps of Florida. — Passage of the 
Morass. — Heroism of Silvestre. — Message to Acuera. — His He- 
roic Reply.— Fierce Hostility of the Indians. — Enter the Town of 
Ocali. — Strange Incident. — Death of the Bloodhound. — Historical 
Discrepancies. — Romantic Entrance to Ochile. 

The day after the departure of Porcallo, a courier 
from Captain Gallegos, accompanied by a small 
guard, came to the Spanish camp at Ucita. He 
informed De Soto that there was an ample supply of 
provisions at Uribaracaxi to sustain the army for sev- 
eral days ; and that he had received information that 
at not a great distance from that place large quanti- 
ties of gold could be obtained. De Soto and his 
companions were greatly elated by these tidings, 
trusting that they were about to enter upon another 
Peru. A garrison of forty horsemen and eighty foot 
soldiers, was left at Ucita, to protect the military and 
commissariat stores collected there, and to guard the 
three vessels still remaining in the bay. Captain 
Calderon, who was left in command, was strictly 
enjoined to treat the Indians with the utmost kind- 



l64 DE SOTO. 

ness, and not to make war upon them, even if pro- 
voked by taunts and insults. 

De Soto, then, with the main body of his army, 
set out on the march for Uribaracaxi, It was soon 
very evident to him that he was not in Peru. There 
was no smoothly-paved highway for his soldiers to 
traverse. The country was pathless, rough, appar- 
ently uninhabited, encumbered with tangled forests, 
and vast dismal swamps. It was a very arduous 
enterprise for soldiers burdened with heavy armor to 
force their way through such a wilderness, with the 
baggage essential to such a body of men. 

One of the great objects of the governor, and a 
humane one, was to establish a colony in Florida. 
A herd of three hundred swine was kept in the line 
of march, as these animals were deemed the most 
advantageous stock for new settlers. After a toil- 
some march of two days they reached the native vil- 
lage of Mucozo, where the friendly chief of the same 
name resided. It is said that this place is now called 
Hichipuchsassa. The chief received them with great 
hospitality. 

Pressing on without delay, they soon reached 
Uribaracaxi, which town it is supposed was situated 
near the head of the Hillsborough river, which stream 
empties into Tampa Bay. The chief was still absent, 
in his place of refuge, amidst the fastnesses of the for- 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 165 

est. All of De Soto's friendly endeavors to draw 
him from his retreat proved unavailing. The Span- 
iards were yet to traverse many leagues of this 
unknown country before they could enter the region 
where it was supposed the gold could be found. 

Florida is emphatically a region of swamps. 
There is probably no section of our country which, 
in a state of nature, would be more difficult for the 
passage of an army. About nine miles from the village, 
directly on their line of march, extending far away to 
the east and the west, there was a vast bog three 
miles wide. It was a chaotic region of mud and 
water, with gigantic trees and entangling roots. 
After long search a passage was found through 
which, by the toilsome efforts of a whole day, the 
army forced its way. Beyond the swamp there 
opened before them a smooth, luxuriant flower-enam- 
elled prairie. Rejoicingly the army pressed forward 
over this beautiful expanse, when suddenly they found 
their steps again arrested by a series of sluggish 
streams, stagnant bayous, and impenetrable bogs. 

De Soto now took a hundred horse and a hundred 
foot soldiers, and leaving the remainder of the army 
safely encamped, set out to explore the country in 
search of a practicable route of travel. For three days 
he skirted the region of bogs, lakes and thickets, send- 
ing out his runners in different directions to find some 



l66 DE SOTO. 

outlet. But there was no outlet for the journeyings 
of civilized men. They captured some Indians, who 
offered to guide them, but who treacherously led 
them to more difficult passes and into ambushes 
where many of their horses were slain. The dread- 
ful punishment of these false guides was to be torn to 
pieces by bloodhounds. They bore their sufferings 
with amazing fortitude. 

At length they found a very rude, difficult and 
dangerous path by which the Indians crossed these 
swamps. At one point, where the water could not be 
forded for a distance of nearly three hundred feet, the 
Indians had constructed a bridge by cutting down 
two large trees and uniting the space that still re- 
mained between them in this Stygian lake, by tying 
logs together, with cross-poles for flooring. To add 
lo the embarrassments of the Spaniards, apparently 
innumerable small bands of Indians were hovering on 
their track, assailing them with their sharp-pointed 
arrows, wherever they could get a shot, and then es- 
caping into the impenetrable region around. They 
were very careful never to come to an open conflict. 
Canoes, propelled by the paddle, would often dart out 
from the thickets, a shower of arrows be discharged, 
and the canoes disappear where no foot could follow 
them. 

A very bold courier, on one of the fleetest horses, 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 167 

was sent back to summon the main body of the army 
to march, under the command of Moscoso, and join 
the party of explorers which De Soto had led. This 
young man, by the name of Silvestre, accomplished 
his feat through a thousand perils and hair-breadth 
escapes. 

Three days De Soto's band had passed struggling 
through bog and brake, bramble and forest. Sylves- 
tre was to find his path back travelling with all possi- 
ble speed by night as well as by day. One attendant 
only was with him, Juan Lopez. They never could 
have found their path but through the sagacity of their 
horses. These noble animals seemed to be endowed 
for the time with the instinct of setter dogs. For in 
the darkness of the night they would puff and snort, 
with their noses close to the ground, ever, under the 
most difficult circumstances, finding the track. The 
distance over which they urged their horses exceeded 
thirty miles. For three days the poor creatures had 
not been unsaddled, and the bits had but occasionally 
been removed from their mouths that they might 
enjoy the brief refreshment of grazing. 

" At times," writes Mr. Irving, " they passed with- 
in sight of huge fires, around which the savages were 
stretched in wild fantastic groups, or capering and 
singing, and making the forests ring with yells and 
bowlings. These were probably celebrating their 



1 68 DE SOTO. 

feasts with war-dances. The deafening din they raised 
was the safeguard of the two Spaniards, as it pre- 
vented the savages noticing the clamorous barking of 
their dogs, and hearing the tramping of the horses as 
they passed." "'■' 

Immediately on the arrival of these two bold 
troopers, Moscoso dispatched supplies for the gov- 
ernor with an escort of thirty horsemen. In the mean 
time the troops under De Soto were nearly perishing 
with hunger. They were compelled to leave their 
encampment in search of food. Fortunately, at no 
great distance, they found a beautiful valley, waving 
luxuriantly with fields of corn or maize. Here they 
encamped and here were soon joined by the escort 
and their welcome supplies. In a few days Moscoso 
came also with the residue of the army. They were 
about sixty miles north of Uribaracaxi. It is sup- 
posed the place is now known by the old Indian name 
of Palaklikaha. 

The chief, whose name was Acuera, and all his 
people had fled to the woods. De Soto sent Indian 
interpreters to him with friendly messages and the 
declaration that the Spaniards had no desire to do 
him any injury ; but that it was their power, if the In- 
dians resisted, to punish them with great severity. 
He also commissioned them to make the declaration, 

* Conquest of P'lorida, p. 89. 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 169 

which to him undoubtedly seemed perfectly just and 
reasonable, but which, to our more enlightened minds, 
seems atrocious in the extreme, that it was their only 
object to bring him and his people into obedience to 
their lawful sovereign, the king of Spain. With this 
end in view, he invited the chief to a friendly inter- 
view. It can hardly be doubted that in that benighted 
age De Soto felt that he was acting the part of a just 
and humane man, and of a Christian, in extending the 
Christian reign of Spain over the heathen realms of 
Florida. Acuera returned the heroic reply : 

" Others of your accursed race have, in years past, 
poisoned our peaceful shores. They have taught me 
what you are. What is your employment .'* To wan- 
der about like vagabonds from land to land; to rob 
the poor ; to betray the confiding ; to murder in cold 
blood the defenceless. With such a people I want no 
peace — no friendship. War, never-ending, extermi- 
nating war, is all the boon I ask. You boast yourself 
valiant ; and so you may be, but my faithful warriors 
are not less brave ; and this, too, you shall one day 
prove, for I have sworn to maintain an unsparing 
conflict while one white man remains in my borders ; 
not openly, in battle, though even thus we fear not to 
meet you, but by stratagem, and ambush, and mid- 
night surprisals. I am king in my own land, and will 
never become the vassal of a mortal like myself. As 



170 DE SOTO. 

for me and my people, we choose death, yes a hun- 
dred deaths, before the loss of our liberty and the 
subjugation of our country." 

This answer certainly indicates a degree of intelli- 
gence and mental culture far above what we should 
expect to find in the chief of a tribe of Florida In- 
dians. The chivalric spirit of De Soto compelled him 
to admire the heroism it displayed. He consequently 
redoubled his efforts to gain the friendship of the 
chief, but all in vain. For twenty days De Soto re- 
mained in this encampment, recruiting his troops and 
making arrangements for a farther advance. The 
Indians made constant warfare upon him, lurking in 
the thickets which densely surrounded his camp. No 
Spaniard could wander one hundred steps without 
danger of being shot down by an invisible foe, whose 
deadly arrow was more noiseless in its flight than the 
sighing of the breeze through the tree tops. In this 
way, during these twenty days, fourteen Spaniards 
were killed and many more wounded. Fifty Indians 
also fell struck by the bullets of the invaders. De Soto 
allowed himself only in a war of self-defence. He 
strictly prohibited his followers from doing any injury 
to the villages or the property of the natives, or of 
engaging in the slightest act of violence towards any 
who were not in active hostility against them. 

After twenty days of such repose as could be 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 171 

found in this war harassed camp, De Soto resumed 
his march. He directed the steps of his army in a 
northeasterly direction towards a town called Ocali, 
about sixty miles from their encampment. It seems 
that in most, if not all of this region, the chief and 
his principal town bore the same name. 

The path of the army led just over a dreary ex- 
panse of desert sands, about thirty miles broad. There 
was no underbrush, and over the smooth surface both 
men and horses could travel with the greatest ease. 
They then entered upon a beautiful region of fertility 
and luxuriance. Fields of corn waved their graceful 
leaves and bannered heads in the breeze. ^ Farm 
houses and pleasant villages were scattered around, 
indicating that peace, with its nameless blessings, 
reigned there. They reached the central town, 
Ocali, and found it to consist of six hundred sub- 
stantially built houses. This would give the place a 
population of probably not less than three thousand. 

But the chief, Ocali, and his principal inhabitants, 
with their effects, had fled to the forests. The Span- 
ish army immediately took up its quarters in the 
dwellings of Ocali. They found here an ample sup- 
ply of provisions, which they seem without any ques- 
tionings to have appropriated to their own use. The 
clime was balmy, the region beautiful, the houses 
commodious, the food abundant, and the few Indians 



172 DE SOTO. 

who remained behind manifested no hostility. The 
common soldiers, following the example of their leader, 
treated all with great kindness. 

De Soto sent several Indian messengers daily to 
the retreat of the chief with proffers of peace and 
friendship. Though Ocali rejected all these over- 
tures, it seems that they must have made an impres- 
sion on the minds of some of his followers. 

One day, four young Floridian warriors, gorge- 
ously dressed and with nodding plumes, came to the 
Spanish camp. De Soto received them with great 
cordiality and invited them to a handsome collation 
with his principal officers. Mr. Irving, in his well au- 
thenticated narrative, gives the following account of 
the scene which there ensued : 

" They sat down and appeared to be eating quiet- 
ly, when perceiving the Spaniards to be off their 
guard, they rose suddenly and rushed full speed to 
the woods. It was in vain for the Spaniards to pur- 
sue them on foot, and there was no horse at hand. A 
hound of uncommon sagacity, however, hearing the 
cry of the Indians, and seeing them run, pursued 
them. Overtaking and passing by the first and sec- 
ond and third, he sprang upon the shoulders of the 
foremost and pulled him to the ground ; as the next 
Indian passed on, the dog, leaving the one already 
down, sprang upon his successor and secured him in 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 1 73 

the same way. In like manner he served the third 
and fourth, and then kept running from one to the 
other, pulHng them down as fast as they rose, and 
barking so furiously that the Indians were terrified 
and confounded and the Spaniards were enabled to 
overtake and capture them. They were taken back 
to the camp and examined separately. For as they 
were armed, the Spaniards apprehended some treach- 
ery ; but it appeared that their sudden flight was only 
by way of exploit, to show their address and fleet- 
ness." "'•'■" 

Ocali, after resisting for six days all friendly ad- 
vances, was at length induced to visit the Spanish 
camp. He was received by De Soto with the great- 
est kindness, and every effort was made to win his 
confidence. There was a deep and wide river near 
the village which it was necessary for the Spaniards 
to cross in their advance. De Soto, accompanied by 
Ocali and several of his subjects, was walking on the 
banks of this stream to select a spot for crossing, by 
means of a bridge or raft, when a large number of 
Indians sprang up from the bushes on the opposite 
side, and assailing them with insulting and reproach- 
ful language, discharged a volley of arrows upon 
them, by which one of the Spaniards was wounded. 

Upon De Soto's demanding of the chief the mean- 

* Irving's Conquest of Florida, p. 100. 



174 I^E SOTO. 

ing of this hostile movement, OcaU repUed, that they 
were a collection of his mutinous subjects, who had 
renounced their allegiance to him, in consequence of 
his friendship for the Spaniards. The bloodhound, 
to which we have alluded, that had so sagaciously 
captured the four Floridians, was in the company 
held in a leash by one of the servants of the governor. 
The moment the ferocious animal heard the yells of 
the Indians, and witnessed their hostile actions, by a 
desperate struggle he broke from his keeper and 
plunged into the river. In vain the Spaniards en- 
deavored to call him back. The Indians eagerly 
watched his approach, and as he drew near they 
showered upon him such a volley of arrows, that more 
than fifty pierced his head and shoulders. He barely 
reached the land, when he fell dead. The array 
mourned the loss of the sagacious, fearless and 
merciless brute as if he had been one of the most 
valiant of their warriors. 

It soon became evident that Ocali had but slight 
influence over his tribe. De Soto, apprehensive that 
it might be thought that he detained him against his 
will, advised him to return to his people, assuring 
him that he would always be a welcome guest in the 
Spanish camp. He left, and they saw him no more. 

Crossing the river by a rude bridge constructed 
by the Spanish engineers, De Soto took the lead with 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 175 

a hundred horse and a hundred foot. After a mon- 
otonous march of three days over a flat country, they 
came to a very extensive province called Vitachuco, 
which was governed in common by three brothers. 
The principal village, Ochile, was rather a fortress 
than a village, consisting of fifty large buildings 
strongly constructed of timber. It was a frontier mil- 
itary post ; for it seems that this powerful tribe was 
continually embroiled in war with the adjacent prov- 
inces, Mr. Williams, in his History of Florida, lo- 
cates Ochile just south of what is called the Allachua 
prairie. 

There are two sources of information upon which 
we are dependent for most of the facts here recorded. 
One is, the " History of Hernando De Soto," written 
by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. He was the son of 
a Spanish nobleman and of a Peruvian lady of illus- 
trious rank. His narrative was written as related to 
him, by a friend who was one of the expedition. 
With some probable exaggerations it is generally 
deemed authentic. Mr. Southey describes the work 
as one of the most delightful in the Spanish lan- 
guage. 

The other is what is called " The Portuguese Nar- 
rative." It is from the pen of an anonymous writer, 
who declares himself to have been a Spanish cavalier, 
and that he describes the scenes of which he was af» 



176 DE SOTO. 

eye-witness. Though these two accounts generally 
harmonize, there is at times very considerable dis- 
crepancy between their statements. In the extraor- 
dinary events now to be chronicled, the writer has 
generally endeavored to give the narrative, as has 
seemed to him most probable, in comparing the two 
accounts, with the well-established character of De 
Soto. 

The advance guard of the Spanish army marched 
all night, and just before the dawn of the morning, 
entered the silent streets of Ochile. Wishing to pro- 
duce as deep an impression as possible upon the 
minds of the Indians, their drums were beat, and 
their trumpets emitted their loudest blasts, as one 
hundred horsemen with clattering hoofs, and one 
hundred footmen with resounding arms, startled the 
citizens from their repose. To these simple natives, 
it must have been a scene almost as astounding as if 
a legion of adventurers, from the star Sirius, were at 
midnight to make their appearance in the streets of 
a European city. 

The house of the chief was centrally situated. It 
was a large mansion, nearly three hundred feet in 
length by one hundred and twenty in width. There 
were also connected with it quite a number of out- 
buildings of very considerable dimensions. 

As a matter of course, immediately the whole 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 1 77 

population was in the streets in a state of utter 
amazement. It was the object of De Soto to appear 
in such strength, and to take such commanding posi- 
tions, as would prevent any assault on the part of the 
Indians, which would lead to bloodshed. He was 
well informed of the warlike reputation of the chief 
who resided there ; and knew that in that fortress he 
was surrounded by a numerous band of warriors, ever 
armed and always ready for battle. The region 
around was densely populated. Should the chief es- 
cape, determined upon hostility, and rally his troops 
around him, it might lead to sanguinary scenes, 
greatly to be deplored. 

De Soto immediately held an interview with the 
chief; treated him with the utmost kindness and as- 
sured him that he had no intention of inflicting any 
injury upon him or any of his subjects ; that he 
sought only for permission to pass peaceably and un- 
molested through his realms. The soldiers were 
strictly enjoined to treat the natives in the most 
friendly manner, and not to allow themselves, by any 
provocation whatever, to be drawn into a conflict. 

The chief was very narrowly watched, that he 
might not escape. Still he was unconscious of his 
captivity, for he was held by invisible chains. 

During the following day the main body of the 
army entered Ochile with all the pomp which prancing 



178 DE SOTO. 

horses richly accoutred, gorgeous uniforms, bugle- 
blasts, waving banners, and glittering armor could 
present. Ocile, its chief, and his warriors were at the 
mercy of the Spaniards. But they had come not as 
conquerors, but as peaceful travellers, with smiles and 
presents, and kindly words. Still the power of these 
uninvited guests was very manifest, and it was very 
evident that any hostility on the part of the natives 
would bring down upon them swift destruction. 

It so happened, that the youngest of the three 
brother chiefs resided at Ochile. At the suggestion 
of De Soto, he sent couriers to his two brothers, in- 
forming them of the arrival of the Spaniards, of their 
friendly disposition, and of their desire simply to pass 
through the country unmolested. At the same time 
he stated, by request of De Soto, that the strength of 
the Spaniards was such that they were abundantly 
able to defend themselves ; and that should any at- 
tack be made upon them, it would lead to results 
which all would have occasion to deplore. 

The capital of the second brother was not far dis- 
tant. In three days he came to Ochile, decorated 
in gorgeous robes of state and accompanied by a ret- 
inue of his warriors, in their most showy costume. 
It is recorded that he had the bearing of an accom- 
plished gentleman, and seemed as much at ease 
amidst the wondrous surroundings of the Spanish 



THE MARCH TO OCHILE. 179 

camp, as if he had been accustomed to them all his 
days. He entered into the most friendly relations 
with De Soto and his distinguished officers, and 
seemed very cordially to reciprocate all their cour- 
teous attentions. 



CHAPTER XL 

The Conspiracy and its Conseqicences. 

The Three Brother Chieftains. — Reply of Vitachuco to his Brothers.— 
P'eigned Friendship for the Spaniards. — The Conspiracy. — Its 
Consummation and Results. — Clemency of De Soto. — The Second 
Conspiracy. — Slaughter of the Indians. — March of the Spaniards 
for Osachile. — Battle in the Morass. 

Of the three brothers who reigned over this ex- 
tended territory the elder bore the same name with 
the province which he governed, which was Vitachuco, 
He was far the most powerful of the three, in both 
the extent and populousness of his domain. His two 
brothers had united in sending an embassy to him, 
earnestly enjoining the expediency of cultivating 
friendly relations with the Spaniards. The following 
very extraordinary reply, which he returned, is given 
by Garcilaso de la Vega. And though he says he 
quotes from memory, still he pledges his word of hon- 
or, that it is a truthful record of the message Vita- 
chuco sent back. We read it with wonder, as it indi- 
cates a degree of mental enlightenment, which we had 
not supposed could have been found among those 
semi-civilized people. 

" It is evident," said the chief to his brothers, 



THE CONSPIRACY. l8l 

" that you are young and have neither judgment 
nor experience, or you would never speak as you 
have done of these hated white men. You extol 
them as virtuous men, who injure no one. You say 
that they are valiant ; are children of the Sun, and 
merit all our reverence and service. The vile chains 
which they have hung upon you, and the mean and 
dastardly spirit which you have acquired during the 
short period you have been their slaves, have caused 
you to speak like women, lauding what you should 
censure and abhor. 

" You remember not that these strangers can be 
no better than those who formerly committed so 
many cruelties in our country. Are they not of the 
same nation and subject to the same laws ? Do not 
their manner of life and actions prove them to be the 
children of the spirit of evil, and not of the Sun and 
Moon — our Gods .'' Go they not from land to land 
plundering and destroying; taking the wives and 
daughters of others instead of bringing their own 
with them ; and like mere vagabonds maintaining 
themselves by the laborious toil and sweating brow 
of others ! 

" Were they virtuous, as you represent, they never 
would have left their own country ; since there they 
might have practised their virtues ; planting and cul- 
tivating the earth, maintaining themselves, without 



1 82 DE SOTO. 

prejudice to others or injury to themselves, instead of 
roving about the world, committing robberies and 
murders, having neither the shame of men nor the 
fear of God before them. Warn them not to enter 
into my dominions. Valiant as they may be, if they 
dare to put foot upon my soil, they shall never go out 
of my land alive." 

De Soto and his army remained eight days at 
Ochile. By unwearied kindness, he so won the confi- 
dence of the two brother chiefs, that they went in per- 
son to Vitachuco to endeavor by their united repre- 
sentations to win him to friendly relations with the 
Spaniards. Apparently they succeeded. Vitachuco 
either became really convinced that he had misjudged 
the strangers, or feigned reconciliation. He invited 
De Soto and his army to visit his territory, assigning 
to them an encampment in a rich and blooming val- 
ley. On an appointed day the chief advanced to 
meet them, accompanied by his two brothers and 
five hundred warriors, in the richest decorations and 
best armament of military art as then understood by 
the Floridians. 

De Soto and Vitachuco were about of the same 
age and alike magnificent specimens of physical man- 
hood. The meeting between them was as cordial as 
if they had always been friends. The Indian warriors 
escorted their guests from their encampment to the 



THE CONSPIRACY. 183 

capital. It consisted of two hundred spacious edi- 
fices, strongly built of hewn timber. Several days 
were passed in feasting and rejoicing, when Juan Or- 
tiz informed the governor that some friendly Indians 
had revealed to him that a plot had been formed, by 
Vitachuco,for the entire destruction of the Spanish 
army. 

The chief was to assemble his warriors, to the. 
number of about ten thousand, upon an extensive 
plain, just outside the city, ostensibly to gratify De 
Soto with the splendors of a peaceable parade. To 
disarm all suspicion, they were to appear without any 
weapons of war, which weapons were however pre- 
viously to be concealed in the long grass of the 
prairie. De Soto was to be invited to walk out with 
the chief to witness the spectacle. Twelve very pow- 
erful Indians, with concealed arms, were to accompa- 
ny the chief or to be near at hand. It was supposed 
that the pageant would call out nearly all the Span- 
iards, and that they would be carelessly sauntering 
over the plain. At a given signal, the twelve Indians 
were to rush upon De Soto, and take him captive if 
possible, or if it were inevitable, put him to death. 

At the same moment the whole band of native 
warriors, grasping their arms, was to rush upon the 
Spaniards in overpowering numbers often to one. In 
this way it was supposed that every man could speed- 



1 84 CE SOTO. 

ily be put to death or captured. Those who were 
taken prisoners were to be exposed to the utmost in- 
genuity of Indian torture. 

This seemed a very plausible story. De Soto, 
upon careful inquiry, became satisfied, of its truth. 
He consulted his captains, and decided to be so pre- 
pared for the emergence, that should he be thus at- 
tacked, the Indian chief would fall into the trap which 
he had prepared for his victims. 

The designated day arrived. The sun rose in a 
cloudless sky and a gentle breeze swept the prairie. 
Early in the morning, Vitachuco called upon De Soto, 
and very obsequiously solicited him to confer upon 
him the honor of witnessing a grand muster of his 
subjects. He said they would appear entirely un- 
armed, but he wished De Soto to witness their evolu- 
tions, that he might compare them with the military 
drill of European armies. De Soto, assuming a very 
friendly and unsuspicious air, assured the chief, that 
he should be very happy to witness the pageant. And 
to add to its imposing display, and in his turn to do 
something to interest the natives, he said he would 
call out his whole force of infantry and cavalry, and 
arrange them in full battle array on the opposite side 
of the plain. 

The chief was evidently much embarrassed by this 
proposition, but he did not venture to present any ob- 



THE CONSPIRACY. 185 

stacles. Knowing the valor and ferocity of his troops, 
he still thought that with De Soto as his captive, he 
could crush the Spaniards by overwhelming numbers. 
Matters being thus arranged, the whole Spanish 
army, in its most glittering array, defiled upon the 
plain. De Soto was secretly well armed. Servants 
were ready with two of the finest horses to rush to 
his aid. A body-guard of twelve of his most stalwart 
men loitered carelessly around him. 

At nine o'clock in the morning, De Soto and Vita- 
chuco walked out, side by side, accompanied by their 
few attendants and ascended a slight eminence which 
commanded a view of the field. Notwithstanding the 
careless air assumed by De Soto, he was watching 
every movement of Vitachuco with intensest interest. 
The instant the Indian chief gave his signal, his at- 
tendants rushed upon De Soto, and his ten thousand 
warriors grasped their arrows and javelins, and with 
the hideous war-whoop rushed upon the Spaniards. 
But at the same instant a bugle blast, echoing over 
the plain, put the whole Spanish army in motion in 
an impetuous charge. The two signals for the deadly 
conflict seemed to be simultaneous. The body-guard 
of De Soto, with their far superior weapons, not only 
repelled the Indian assailants, but seized and bound 
Vitachuco as their captive. De Soto lost not a mo- 
ment in mounting a horse, led to him by his servant. 



1 86 DE SOTO. 

But the noble animal fell dead beneath him, pierced 
by many arrows. Another steed was instantly at his 
side, and De Soto was at the head of his cavalry, lead- 
ing the charge. Never, perhaps, before, did so terri- 
ble a storm burst thus suddenly from so serene a sky. 

The natives fought with valor and ferocity which 
could not be surpassed even by the Spaniards. All 
the day long the sanguinary battle raged, until ter- 
minated by the darkness of the night. The field was 
bordered, on one side, by a dense forest, and on the 
other by a large body of water, consisting of two 
lakes. Some of the natives escaped into the almost 
impenetrable forest. Many were drowned. Several 
of the young men, but eighteen years of age, who 
were taken captive, — the sons of chiefs, — developed 
a heroism of character which attracted the highest ad- 
miration of De Soto. They fought to the last possi- 
ble moment, and when finally captured, expressed 
great regret that they had not been able to die for 
their country. They said to their conqueror, 

" If you wish to add to your favors, take our lives. 
After surviving the defeat and capture of our chief- 
tain, we are not worthy to appear before him, or to 
live in the world." 

It is said that De Soto was greatly moved with 
compassion in view of the calamity which had befal- 
len these noble young men. He embraced them 



THE CONSPIRACY. 1 8/ 

with parental tenderness, and commended their valor, 
which he regarded as proof of their noble blood. 

" For two days," writes Mr. Irving, "he detained 
them in the camp, feasting them at his table and 
treating them with every distinction ; at the end of 
which time he dismissed them with presents of linen, 
cloths, silks, mirrors and other articles of Spanish 
manufacture. He also sent by them presents to 
their fathers and relations, with proffers of friend- 
ship." 

De Soto had succeeded in capturing four of the 
most distinguished captains of Vitachuco. They had 
been ostensibly the friends of the Spaniard, had ate 
at his table and had apparently reciprocated all his 
kindly words and deeds. While thus deceiving him, 
they had cooperated with Vitachuco for his destruc- 
tion. De Soto summoned them with their chief be- 
fore him. 

" He reproached them," says Mr. Irving " with the 
treacherous and murderous plot, devised against him 
and his soldiers, at a time when they were professing 
the kindest amity. Such treason, he observed, mer- 
ited death ; yet he wished to give the natives evi- 
dence of his clemency. He pardoned them, there- 
fore, and restored them to his friendship ; warning 
them, however, to beware how they again deceived 
him, or trespassed against the safety and welfare of 



1 88 DE SOTO. 

the Spaniards, lest they should bring down upon 
themselves dire and terrible revenge." 
• Vitachuco was now a captive. Yet notwithstand- 
ing the conspiracy which had led to such deplorable 
results, De Soto treated him with great kindness, giv- 
ing him a seat at his own table, and endeavoring in 
all ways to obliterate the remembrance of the con- 
flict. De Soto was in search of gold. He had heard 
of mountains of that precious metal far away in the 
interior. The natives had no wealth which he desired 
to plunder. Their hostility he exceedingly depre- 
cated, as it deprived him of food, of comforts, and 
exposed his little band to the danger of being cut off 
and annihilated, as were the troops of Narvaez, who 
had preceded him. The past career of De Soto 
proves, conclusively, that he was by nature a humane 
man, loving what he conceived to be justice. 

Under these circumstances, a wise policy de- 
manded that he should do what he could to concili- 
ate the natives before he advanced in his adventurous 
journey, leaving them, if hostile, disposed to cut off 
his return. It is said that nine hundred of the most 
distinguished warriors of Vitachuco were virtually 
enslaved, one of whom was assigned to each of the 
Spaniards, to serve him in the camp and at the table. 
Such at least is the story as it comes down to us, Vi- 
tachuco formed the plan again to assail the Spaniards 



THE CONSPIRACY. 1 89 

by a concerted action at the dinner-table. Every 
warrior was to be ready to surprise and seize his 
master, and put him to death. There is much in thisj^ 
narrative which seems improbable. We will, however, 
give it to our readers as recorded by Mr. Irving in his 
very carefully written history of the Conquest of 
Florida. We know not how it can be presented in a 
more impartial manner. 

" Scarcely had Vitachuco conceived this rash 
scheme than he hastened to put it into operation. He 
had four young Indians to attend him as pages. 
These he sent to the principal prisoners, revealing 
his plan, with orders that they should pass it secretly 
and adroitly from one to another, and hold themselves 
in readiness, at the appointed time, to carry it into 
effect. The dinner hour of the third day was the 
time fixed upon for striking the blow. Vitachuco 
would be dining with the governor, and the Indians 
in general attending upon their respective masters. 

" The cacique was to watch his opportunity, 
spring upon the governor and kill him, giving at the 
moment of assault a war-whoop which should resound 
throughout the village. The war-whoop was to be 
the signal for every Indian to grapple with his master 
or with any other Spaniard at hand and dispatch him 
on the spot. 

" On the day appointed Vitachuco dined as usual 



190 DE SOTO. 

with the governor. When the repast was conckided, 
he sprang upon his feet, closed instantly with the 
governor, seized him with the left hand by the collar, 
and with the other fist dealt him such a blow in the 
face as to level him with the ground, the blood gush- 
ing out of eyes, nose and mouth. The cacique threw 
himself upon his victim to finish his work, giving at 
the same time his signal war-whoop. 

" All this was the work of an instant ; and before 
the officers present had time to recover from their 
astonishment, the governor lay senseless beneath the 
tiger grasp of Vitachuco. One more blow from the 
savage would have been fatal ; but before he could 
give it a dozen swords and lances were thrust through 
his body, and he fell dead. 

" The war-whoop had resounded through the vil- 
lage. Hearing the fatal signal, the Indians, attend- 
ing upon their masters, assailed them with whatever 
missile they could command. Some seized upon 
pikes and swords ; others snatched up the pots in 
which meal was stewing at the fire, and beating the 
Spaniards about the head, bruised and scalded them 
at the same time. Some caught up plates, pitchers, 
jars, and the pestles wherewith they pounded the 
maize. Others seized upon stools, benches and ta- 
bles, striking with impotent fury, when their weapons 
had not the power to harm. Others snatched up 



THE CONSPIRACY. I9I 

burning fire-brands, and rushed like very devils into 
the affray. Many of the Spaniards were terribly 
burned, bruised and scalded. Some had their arms 
broken." 

This terrible conflict was of short duration. 
Though the Spaniards were taken by surprise, they 
were not unarmed. Their long keen sabres gave 
them a great advantage over their assailants. Though 
several were slain, and many more severely wounded, 
the natives were soon overpowered. The exasperated 
Spaniards were not disposed to show much mercy. 
In these two conflicts with the Indians, Vitachuco fell, 
and thirteen hundred of his ablest warriors. 

De Soto had received so terrific a blow, that for 
half an hour he remained insensible. The gigantic 
fist of the savage had awfully bruised his face, knock- 
ing out several of his teeth. It was four days before 
he recovered sufficient strength to continue his march 
and twenty days elapsed before he could take any 
solid food. On the fifth day after this great disaster 
the Spaniards resumed their journey ings in a north- 
west direction, in search of a province of which they 
had heard favorable accounts, called Osachile. The 
first day they advanced but about twelve miles, 
encamping upon the banks of a broad and deep river, 
which is supposed to have been the Suwanee. 

A band of Indians was upon the opposite side of 



192 DE SOTO, 

the stream evidently in hostile array. The Spaniards 
spent a day and a half in constructing rafts to float 
them across. They approached the shore in such 
strength, that the Indians took to flight, without as- 
sailing them. Having crossed the river they entered 
upon a prairie country of fertile soil, where the indus- 
trious Indians had many fields well filled with corn, 
beans and pumpkins. But as they journeyed on, the 
Indians, in small bands,, assailed them at every point 
from which an unseen arrow or javelin could be 
thrown. The Spaniards, on their march, kept in 
■ quite a compact body, numbering seven or eight hun- 
dred men, several hundred of whom were mounted 
on horses gayly caparisoned, which animals, be it re- 
membered, the Indians had never before seen. 

After proceeding about thirty miles through a 
pretty well cultivated country, with scattered farm- 
houses, they came to quite an important Indian town 
called Osachile. It contained about two hundred 
houses ; but the terrified inhabitants had fled, taking 
with them their most valuable effects, and utter soli- 
tude reigned in its streets. 

The country was generally flat, though occasion- 
ally it assumed a little of the character of what is 
called the rolling prairie. The Indian towns were al- 
ways built upon some gentle swell of land. Where 
this could not be found, they often constructed arti- 



THE CONSPIRACY. I93 

ficial mounds of earth, sufficient in extent to contain 
from ten to twenty houses. Upon one of these the 
chief and his immediate attendants would rear their 
dwellings, while the more humble abodes of the com- 
mon people, were clustered around. At Osachile 
De Soto found an ample supply of provisions, and he 
remained there two days. 

It is supposed that Oaschile was at the point 
now called Old Town. Here De Soto was inform- 
ed by captive Indians that about thirty leagues to 
the west there was a very rich and populous country 
called Appalachee. The natives were warlike in the 
highest degree, spreading the terror of their name 
through all the region around. Gold was said to 
abound there. The country to be passed through, 
before reaching that territory, was filled with gloomy 
swamps and impenetrable thickets, where there was 
opportunity for ambuscades. De Soto was told that 
the Appalachians would certainly destroy his whole 
army should he attempt to pass through those bar- 
riers and enter their borders. 

This peril was only an incentive to the adventu- 
rous spirit of the Spanish commander. To abandon 
the enterprise and return without the gold, would be 
not only humiliating, but would be his utter ruin. He 
had already expended in the undertaking all that he 
possessed. He had no scruples of conscience to re- 
9 



194 I^E SOTO. 

tard his march, however sanguinary the hostility of 
the natives might render it. It was the doctrine of 
the so-called church at Rome, that Christians were en- 
titled to the possessions of the heathen ; and though 
Dc Soto himself by no means professed to be actu- 
ated by that motive, the principle unquestionably in- 
fluenced nearly his whole army. 

But he did assume that he was a peaceful travel- 
ler, desiring to cultivate only friendly relations with 
the natives, and that he had a right to explore this 
wilderness of the new world in search of those pre- 
cious medals of which the natives knew not the value, 
but which were of so much importance to the interest 
of all civilized nations. 

For three days the Spaniards toiled painfully along 
over an arid, desert plain, beneath a burning sun. 
About noon on the fourth day they reached a vast 
swamp, probably near the Estauhatchee river. This 
swamp was bordered by a gloomy forest, with gigantic 
trees, and a dense, impervious underbrush, ever stim- 
ulated to wonderful luxuriance by an almost tropical 
sun and a moist and spongy soil. Through this mo- 
rass the Indians, during generations long since passed 
away, had constructed a narrow trail or path about 
three feet wide. This passage, on both sides, was 
walled up by thorny and entangled vegetation almost 
as impenetrable as if it were brick or stone. 



THE CONSPIRACY, I95 

In the centre of this gloomy forest, there was a 
sheet of shallow water about a mile and a half in 
width and extending north and south as far as the eye 
could reach. The Indians had discovered a ford 
across this lake till they came to the main channel in 
the centre, which was about one hundred and twenty 
feet wide. This channel, in the motionless waters, 
was passed by a rude bridge consisting of trees tied 
together. 

De Soto encamped on the borders of this gloomy 
region for a short time to become acquainted with the 
route and to force the passage. There were various 
spots where the Indians, familiar with the whole re- 
gion, lay in ambush. From their unseen coverts, 
they could assail the Spaniards with a shower of ar- 
rows as they defiled through the narrow pass, and 
escape beyond any possibility of pursuit. Compelling 
some Indians to operate as guides, under penalty of 
being torn to pieces by bloodhounds, De Soto com- 
menced his march just after midnight. Two hundred 
picked men on foot, but carefully encased in armor, 
led the advance in a long line two abreast. Every 
man was furnished with his day's allowance of food in 
the form of roasted kernels of corn. They pressed 
along through a path which they could not lose, and 
from which they could not wander, till they reached 
the lake. Here the guides led them along by a nar- 



196 DE SOTO. 

row ford, up to their waists in water, till they reached 
the bridge of logs. The advance-guard had just 
passed over this bridge when the day dawned, and they 
were discovered by the Indians, who had not supposed 
they would attempt to cross the morass by night. 

The Appalachian warriors, with hideous yells and 
great bravery, rushed into the lake to meet their 
foes. Here Spaniard and Floridian grappled in the 
death struggle up to their waists in water. The 
steel-clad Spaniards, with their superior arms, pre- 
vailed, and the natives repulsed, rushed into the nar- 
row defile upon the other side of the lake. The 
main body of the army pressed on, though contin- 
ually and fiercely assailed by the arrows of the In- 
dians. Arriving at a point where there was an ex- 
panse of tolerably dry ground, De Soto sent into the 
forests around forty skirmishers to keep off the In- 
dians, while a hundred and fifty men were employed 
in felling trees and burning brush, in preparation for 
an encampment for the night. 

Exhausted by the toil of the march and of the 
battle ; drenched with the waters of the lake ; many of 
them suffering from wounds, they threw themselves 
down upon the hot and smouldering soil for sleep. 
But there was no repose for them that night. Dur- 
ing all the hours of darkness, the prowling natives 
kept up a continuous clamor, with ever recurring as- 



THE CONSPIRACY. 1 97 

saults. With the first dawn of the morning the 
Spaniards resumed their march, anxious to get out 
of the defile and into the open prairie beyond, where 
they could avail themselves of their horses, of which 
the Indians stood in great dread. As they gradually 
emerged from the impenetrable thicket into the more 
open forest, the army could be spread out more 
effectually, and the horesmen could be brought a lit- 
tle more into action. But here the valor of the na- 
tives did not forsake them. 

" As soon as the Spaniards," writes Mr. Irving, 
" entered this more open woodland, they were as- 
sailed by showers of arrows on every side. The In- 
dians, scattered about among the thickets, sallied 
forth, plied their bows with intense rapidity, and 
plunged again into the forest. The horses were of 
no avail. The arquebusiers and archers seemed no 
longer a terror ; for in the time a Spaniard could make 
one discharge, and reload his musket or place another 
bolt in his cross-bow, an Indian would launch six or 
seven arrows. Scarce had one arrow taken flight 
before another was in the bow. For two long leagues 
did the Spaniards toil and fight their way forward 
through this forest. 

" Irritated and mortified by these galling attacks 
and the impossibility of retaliating, at length they 
emerged into an open and level country. Here, over- 



198 DE SOTO, 

joyed at being freed from this forest prison, they gave 
reins to their horses, and free vent to their smothered 
rage, and scoured the plain, lancing and cutting down 
every Indian they encountered. But few of the ene- 
my were taken prisoners, many were put to the 
sword." 



CHAPTER XII. 
Winter Quarters. 

Incidents of the March. — Passage of the River. — Entering Anhayea. — 
Exploring Expeditions. — De Soto's desire for Peace. — Capture of 
Capifi. — His Escape. — Embarrassments of De Soto. — Letter of 
Isabella. — Exploration of the Coast. — Discovery of the Bay of Pen- 
sacola. — Testimony Respecting Cafachique. — The March Resumed. 

The Spaniards now entered upon a beautiful and 
highly cultivated region, waving with fields of corn 
and adorned with many pleasant villages and scat- 
tered farm-houses. It seemed to be the abode of 
peace, plenty and happiness. It certainly might have 
been such, but for the wickedness of man. Wearied 
with their long march and almost incessant battle, the 
Spaniards encamped in the open plain, where their 
horsemen would be able to beat off assaults. 

But the night brought them no repose. It was 
necessary to keep a large .force mounted and ready 
for conflict. The natives, in large numbers, surroun- 
ded them, menacing an attack from every quarter, 
repeatedly drawing near enough in the darkness to 
throw their arrows into the camp, and keeping up an 
incessant and hideous howling. After a sleepless 



200 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

night, with the earHest Hght of the morning they re- 
sumed their march along a very comfortable road, 
which led through extensive fields of corn, beans, 
pumpkins and other vegetables. The prairie spread 
out before them in its beautiful, level expanse, till 
lost in the distant horizon. All the day long their 
march was harassed by bands of natives springing up 
from ambush in the dense corn-fields which effectu- 
ally concealed them from view. Many were the 
bloody conflicts in which the natives were cut down 
mercilessly, and still their ferocity and boldness con- 
tinued unabated. 

After thus toiling on for six miles the Spaniards 
approached a deep stream, supposed to be the river 
Uche, It was crossed by a narrow ford with deep 
water above and below. Here the natives had con- 
structed palisades, and interposed other obstacles, 
behind which, with their arrows and javelins, they 
seemed prepared to make a desperate resistance. De 
Soto, after carefully reconnoitering the position, se- 
lected a number of horsemen, who were most effectually 
protected with their steel armor, and sent them for- 
ward, with shields on one arm, and with swords and 
hatchets to hew away these obstructions, which were 
all composed of wood. Though several of the Span- 
iards were slain and many wounded, they effected a 
passage, when the mounted horsemen plunged 



WINTER QUARTERS. 20I 

through the opening, put the Indians to flight and 
cut them down with great slaughter. 

Continuing their march, on the other side of the 
river, for a distance of about six miles through the 
same fertile and well populated region, they were ad- 
monished by the approach of night, again to seek an 
encampment. The night was dark and gloomy. All 
were deeply depressed in spirits. An incessant battle 
seemed their destiny. The golden mountains of which 
they were in pursuit were ever vanishing away. They 
were on the same path which had previously been 
traversed by the cruel but energetic Narvaez, and 
where his whole company had been annihilated, 
leaving but four or five to tell the tale of the awful 
tragedy. 

Dreadful as were the woes which these adventur- 
ers had brought upon the Indians, still more terrible 
were the calamities in which they had involved them- 
selves. They were now three hundred miles from 
Tampa Bay. Loud murmurs began to rise in the 
camp. Nearly all demanded to return. But, for De 
Soto, the abandonment of the enterprise was dis- 
grace, and apparently irretrievable ruin. There was 
scarcely any condition of life more to be deplored 
than that of an impoverished nobleman, De Soto 
was therefore urged onward by the energies of de- 
spair. 



202 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

Again through all the hours of the night, they 
were exposed to an incessant assault from their un- 
wearied foes. From their captives they learned that 
they were but six miles from the village of Anhayea, 
where their chief, Capafi, resided. This was the first 
instance in which they heard of a chief who did not 
bear the same name as the town in which he dwelt. 
Early in the morning, De Soto, with two hundred 
mounted cavaliers and one hundred footmen, led the 
advance, and soon entered the village, which consist- 
ed of two hundred and fifty houses, well built and 
of large size. 

At one end of the village stood the dwelling of 
the chief, which was quite imposing in extent, 
though not in the grandeur of its architecture. The 
chief and all his men had fled, and the Spaniards en- 
tered deserted streets. The army remained here for 
several days, finding abundance of food. Still they 
were harassed, day and night, by the indomitable 
energy of the natives. Two well armed expeditions 
were sent out to explore the country on the north 
and the west, for a distance of forty or fifty miles, 
while a third was dispatched to the south in search 
of the ocean. 

Anhayea, where the main body of the army 
took up its quarters, is supposed to have been near 
the present site of the city of Tallahassee. The two 



WINTER QUARTERS. 203 

first expeditions sent out, returned, one in eight and 
the other in nine days, bringing back no favorable 
report. The other, sent in search of the ocean, was 
absent much longer, and De Soto became very ap- 
prehensive that it had been destroyed by the natives. 

Through many perilous and wild adventures, being 
often betrayed and led astray by their guides, they 
reached, after a fortnight's travel, the head of the bay 
now called St. Mark's. Here they found vestiges of 
the adventurers who had perished in the ill-fated 
Narvaez expedition. There was a fine harbor to 
which reinforcements and fresh supplies of ammunition 
might be sent to them by ships from Cuba, or from 
Tampa Bay. With these tidings they hurried back 
to Anhayea. 

They had now reached the month of November, 
1539. The winter in these regions, though short, had 
often days of such excessive cold that men upon the 
open prairie, exposed to bleak winds called northers, 
often perished from the severity of the weather. 
De Soto resolved to establish himself in winter-quar- 
ters at Anhayea. With his suite he occupied the 
palace of the chief. The other houses were appro- 
priated to the soldiers for their barracks. He threw 
up strong fortifications and sent out foraging parties 
into the region around, for a supply of provisions. 
As we have no intimation that any payment was 



204 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

made, this was certainly robbery. Whatev^er may be 
said of the necessities of his case, it was surely unjust 
to rob the Indians of their harvests. Still, De Soto 
should not be condemned unheard ; and while we 
have no evidence that he paid the natives for the 
food he took from them, still we have no proof that 
he did not do so. 

In accordance with his invariable custom, he made 
strenuous efforts to win the confidence of the natives. 
Through captive Indians he sent valuable presents to 
the chief Capafi in his retreat, and also assurances 
that he sought only friendly relations between them. 
The chief, however, was in no mood to give any 
cordial response to these advances. He had taken 
refuge in a dense forest, surrounded by dismal morass- 
es, which could only be traversed by a narrow pass 
known only to the Indians, where his warriors in am- 
bush might easily arrest the march of the whole army 
of Spaniards. The brutal soldiery of Narvaez had 
taught them to hate the Spaniards. 

He kept up an incessant warfare, sending out 
from his retreat fierce bands to assail the invaders 
by day and by night, never allowing them one 
moment of repose. Many of the Spaniards were 
slain. But they always sold their lives very dearly, 
so that probably ten natives perished to one of the 
Spaniards. There was nothing gained by this car- 



WINTER QUARTERS. 205 

nage. De Soto was anxious to arrest it. Every 
consideration rendered it desirable for him to have 
the good will of the natives. Peace and friendship 
would enable him to press forward with infinitely- 
less difficulty in search of his imaginary mountains 
of gold and silver, and would greatly facilitate his 
establishment of a colony around the waters of some 
beautiful bay in the Gulf, whence he could ship his 
treasures to Spain and receive supplies in return. 

Finding it impossible to disarm the hostility of 
Capafi by any kindly messages or presents, he 
resolved if possible to take him captive. In this 
way only could he arrest the cruel war. The venera- 
tion of the Indians for their chief was such that, 
with Capafi in the hands of the Spaniards as a hos- 
tage, they would cease their attacks out of regard to 
his safety. 

It was some time before De Soto could get any 
clew to the retreat in which Capafi was concealed. 
And he hardly knew how to account for the fact, 
that the sovereign of a nation of such redoubtable 
ferocity, should never himself lead any of his military 
bands, in the fierce onsets which they were inces- 
santly making. At length De Soto learned that 
Capafi, though a man of great mental energy, was 
incapacitated from taking the field by his enormous 
obesity. He was so fat that he could scarcely walk, 



2o6 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

and was borne from place to place on a litter. He 
could give very energetic commands, but the execu- 
tion of them must be left to others. He also ascer- 
tained that this formidable chief had taken up his 
almost unapproachable quarters about twenty-five 
miles from Anhayea ; and that in addition to the 
tangled thickets and treacherous morasses with 
which nature had surrounded him, he had also 
fortified himself in the highest style of semi-barbarian 
art, and had garrisoned his little fortress with a band 
of his most indomitable warriors. 

Notwithstanding the difficulty of the enterprise, 
De Soto resolved to attempt to capture him. This 
was too arduous a feat to be entrusted to the leader- 
ship of any one but himself. He took a select body 
of horsemen and footmen, and after a very difficult 
journey of three days, came to the borders of the 
citadel where the chief and his garrison were in- 
trenched. Mr. Irving, in his admirable history of 
the Conquest of Florida, gives the following interest- 
ing account of the fortress, and of the battle in 
which it was captured: 

" In the heart of this close and impervious forest, 
a piece of ground was cleared and fortified for the 
residence of the Cacique and his warriors. The only 
entrance or outlet, was by a narrow path cut through 
the forest. At every hundred paces, this path was 



WINTER QUARTERS. 20/ 

barricaded by palisades and trunks of trees, at each 
of which was posted a guard of the bravest warriors. 
Thus the fat Cacique was ensconced in the midst of 
the forest hke a spider in the midst of his web, and 
his devoted subjects were ready to defend him to the 
last gasp. 

" When the Governor arrived at the entrance to 
the perilous defile, he found the enemy well prepared 
for its defence. The Spaniards pressed forward, but 
the path was so narrow that the two foremost only 
could engage in the combat. They gained the first 
and second palisades at the point of the sword. 
There it was necessary to cut the osiers and other 
bands, with which the Indians had fastened the 
beams. While thus occupied they were exposed 
to a galling fire and received many wounds. Not- 
withstanding all these obstacles, they gained one 
palisade after the other until, by hard fighting, they 
arrived at the place of refuge of the Cacique. 

" The conflict lasted a long time, with many feats 
of prowess on both sides. The Indians however, for 
want of defensive armor, fought on unequal terms, 
and were most of them cut down. The Cacique 
called out to the survivors to surrender. The latter, 
having done all that good soldiers could do, and 
seeing all their war-like efforts in vain, threw them- 
selves on their knees before the Governor and offer- 
12 



2o8 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

ed up their own lives, but entreated him to spare 
the Hfe of their Cacique. 

" De Soto was moved by their valor and their 
loyalty; receiving them with kindness, he assured 
them of his pardon for the past, and that henceforth 
he would consider them as friends, Capafi, not 
being able to walk, was borne in the arms of his at- 
tendants to kiss the hands of the Governor, who, 
well pleased to have him in his power, treated him 
with urbanity and kindness." 

Severe as had been the conflict, De Soto return- 
ed to Anhayea with his captive, highly gratified by 
the result of his enterprise. He had strictly en- 
joined it upon his troops not to be guilty of any act 
of wanton violence. On the march he had very 
carefully refrained from any ravaging of the country. 
He now hoped that, the chief being in his power 
and being treated with the utmost kindness, all hos- 
tilities would cease. But, much to his disappoint- 
ment, the warriors of Capafi, released from the care 
of their chief, devoted themselves anew to the 
harassment of the Spaniards in every possible way. 

Capafi seemed much grieved by this their con- 
duct, assuming to be entirely reconciled to his con- 
queror. He informed De Soto that his prominent 
warriors, who directed the campaign, had established 
their headquarters in a dense forest about thirty 



WINTER QUARTERS. 209 

miles from Anhayea. He said that it would be of 
no avail for him to send messengers to them, for 
they would believe that the messages were only such 
as De Soto compelled their chief to utter. He how- 
ever offered to go himself to the camp of his war- 
riors, accompanied by such a guard of Spanish 
troops as De Soto might deem it best to send with 
him. He expressed the assurance, that he should 
be enabled to induce his warriors to throw down 
their arms. 

De Soto accepted tliQ proposition. In the early 
morning a strong escort of infantry and cavalry left 
the village to conduct the chief to the encampment 
of the natives. Skillful guides accompanied them, 
so that they reached the vicinity of the encampment 
just as the sun was going down. The chief sent 
forward scouts immediately, to inform his friends 
of his approach. The Spaniards, weary of their long 
day's march, and convinced of the impossibility of 
the escape of the chief, who could scarcely walk 
a step, were very remiss in watchfulness. Though 
they established sentinels and a guard, in accordance 
with military usage, it would seem that they all 
alike fell asleep. It is probable that the wily chief 
had sent confidential communications to his war- 
riors through his scouts. 

The Spaniards were encamped in the glooms of 



210 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

the forest. At midnight, when darkness, silence and 
solitude reigned, Capafi stealthily crept on his hands 
and knees, a few rods from his sleeping guard, into 
the thicket, where a band of Indian runners met him 
with a litter and bore him rapidly away beyond all 
chance of successful pursuit. The Spaniards never 
caught glimpse of their lost captive again. When 
they awoke their chagrin and dread of punishment 
were extreme. The sentinels, who had been ap- 
pointed to watch the captive, solemnly averred, in 
excuse for their neglect, that during the night de- 
moniac spirits had appeared, and had borne away 
the unwieldy chief through the air. 

As all the band were implicated in the escape, all 
were alike ready to aver that, during the night, they 
had witnessed very strange sights and heard very 
strange sounds. When they carried back this report, 
the good-natured De Soto, convinced that fretting 
and fault-finding would do no good, appeased their 
alarm by saying, with a peculiar smile : 

"It is not strange. These Indian wizards per- 
form feats far more difficult than conjuring away a 
fat chief." 

The winter passed slowly away. The natives 
were a very ferocious race ; tall, strong, athletic, and 
delighting in war. Every day and every hour brought 
alarm and battle. The Indians conducted a harass- 



WINTER QUARTERS. 211 

ing and destructive warfare. In small bands they 
roamed through the forest, cutting off any who ven- 
tured to wander from the town.- It required a large 
amount of food to supply the wants of the army in 
Anhayea. Not a native carried any provisions to 
the town, and it was necessary for De Soto to send 
out foraging expeditions, at whatever risk. The 
winter was cold. Fires were needed for warmth and 
cooking. But the sound of an axe could not be heard 
in the forest, without drawing upon the wood-cutters, 
a swarm of foes. De Soto found himself in what is 
called a false position ; so that he deemed it neces- 
sary to resort to cruel and apparently unjustifiable 
expedients. 

He took a large number of Indian captives. These 
he compelled to be his hewers of wood and drawers 
of water. ' He would send a party of Spaniards into 
the forests for fuel. Each man led an Indian as a 
servant to operate in the double capacity of a shield 
against the arrows of the natives, and a slave to col- 
lect and bring back the burden. To prevent the 
escape of these Indians, each one was led by a chain, 
fastened around his neck or waist. Sometimes these 
natives would make the most desperate efforts to 
escape ; by a sudden twitch upon the chain they 
would endeavor to pull it from the hands of their 
guard, or to throw him down and, seizing any club 



212 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

within their reach, would spring upon him with the 
ferocity of a tiger. 

In various ways more than twenty Spaniards lost 
their lives, and many more were seriously wounded. 
It was indeed a melancholy winter for the army of 
De Soto. Their supplies were so far expended that 
it was needful for them to await the arrival of their 
vessels in the Bay of St. Marks. It will also be remem- 
bered, that De Soto had sent back an expedition to 
cut its way for a distance of three hundred miles 
through hostile nations to Ucita, and to summon the 
garrison there, to set out on a march to join him at 
Anhayea. Five months wer£ thus spent in weary 
waiting. 

It is estimated that De Soto's force in Anhayea, 
including the captives who were servants or slaves, 
amounted to about fifteen hundred persons. He had 
also over three hundred horses. The fertility of the 
region was however such, with its extended fields of 
corn, beans, pumpkins and other vegetables, that it 
was not necessary to send foraging parties to a dis- 
tance of more than four or five miles from the village. 
On the 29th of December, 1539, the two brigantines, 
which had sailed from Tampa Bay, came into St. 
Marks, then called the Bay of Aute. For twelve 
days before the arrival of the ships, De Soto had 
kept companies of horse and foot marching and 



WINTER QUARTERS. 213 

countermarching between Anhayea and the Bay, 
to keep the communication open. They also placed 
banners on the highest trees, as signals to point out 
the place of anchorage. 

Juan De Auasco, who had command of the 
vessels, left them well manned in the bay, and with 
the remainder of the ship's company marched to 
Anhayea, under escort of the troops sent him by De 
Soto. 

Soon after this, Pedro Calderon arrived with his 
gallant little band of a hundred and twenty men. 
By a series of the wildest adventures and most 
heroic achievements they had cut their way through 
a wilderness thronging with foes, where an army of 
eight hundred men had with difficulty effected a 
passage. Fighting every step of the way and bear- 
ing along with them their wounded, their progress 
was necessarily slow. Several of their number were 
killed and many wounded. Of the wounded, twelve 
died soon after they reached Anhayea. 

Their arrival in the village was a cause of great 
gratification to all there. De Soto received them as 
an affectionate father welcomes his son whom he had 
supposed to have been lost. The rumor had reached 
the Governor that all had been slain on the road. 

Captain Calderon brought a letter to De Soto, 
from his wife Isabella. We find the followinji^ 



2 14 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

interesting extract from this letter in the life of De 
Soto by Mr. Lambert A. Wilmer. It seems to bear 
internal evidence of authenticity, though we know 
not the source from which Mr. Wilmer obtained it. 
The spirit of the letter is in entire accord with the 
noble character which Mr. Washington Irving gives 
Isabella, in his life of Columbus and his companions. 

" I have lately had some conversation with Las 
Casas, the Bishop of Chiapa. He has convinced me 
that the behavior of our people to the Indians is 
inexcusable in the sight of God, however it may be 
overlooked by men in high authority. The Bishop 
has proved to me that all who have taken part in 
the abuse of these harmless people, have been visited 
in this life with the manifest displeasure of heaven ; 
and God grant that they may not be punished in the 
life to come according to the measure of their 
offense. 

" I hope, my dearest husband that no considera- 
tions of worldly advantage will make you neglectful 
of the precepts of humanity and of the duties of 
religion. Be persuaded to return to me at once ; for 
you can gain nothing in Florida which can repay me 
for the sorrow and anxiety I feel in your absence. 
Nor for all the riches of the country would I have 
you commit one act the remembrance of which 
would be painful to you hereafter. If you have 



WINTER QUARTERS. 21$ 

^Min'id nothing I shall be better satisfied, because 
theti may be the less cause for repentance. What- 
ever may have been your want of success or your 
losses, I implore you to come to me without delay; 
for any reverse of fortune is far better than the sus- 
pense and misery I now endure." 

This letter must have caused De Soto great per- 
plexity. But for reasons which we have above given 
he could not make up his mind to abandon the 
enterprise, and return to Cuba an unsuccessful and 
impoverished man. 

De Soto now ordered the two vessels under Diego 
Maldonado to explore the coast to the westward, 
carefully examining every river and bay. It would 
seem also probable that at the same time he fitted 
out an expedition of fifty foot soldiers, to march along 
the coast on a tour of discovery. Maldonado, after a 
sail of about two hundred miles, entered the beautiful 
bay of Pensacola, then called Archusi. It was an ad- 
mirable harbor, and with shores so steep and bold 
that ships could ride in safety almost within cable 
length of the land. No Spaniards had previously 
visited that region, consequently the natives were 
friendly. They came freely on board, bringing fruits 
and vegetables, and inviting the strangers to the hos- 
pitality of their homes. 

Maldonado was allowed without molestation to 



2l6 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

explore the bay in all directions, taking careful sound- 
ings. The vessels returned to the bay of Aute, after 
an absence of but eight weeks. De Soto was highly 
gratified with the results of the expedition. It 
seemed to him that the shores of the bay of Pensacola 
presented just the position he desired for the location 
of his colony. He had thus far failed, in his searcli 
for gold, but it seemed to him still possible that he 
nlight lay the foundation of a populous and powerful 
empire. 

It was now the latter part of February, and an 
almost vortical sun was throwing down its rays upon 
them. Maldonado was dispatched with the brigan- 
tines to Havana, to return with a supply of clothing, 
ammunition and such other freight as was needful for 
the army in its isolated condition. He received orders 
to be back in the bay of Pensacola, by the first of 
October. In the mean time De Soto with his army 
was to make a long circuit through the country, in 
search of gold. De Soto had received information of 
a distant province called Cofachiqui, which was gov- 
erned by a queen, young and beautiful. It was said 
that this nation was quite supreme over the adjacent 
provinces, from which it received tribute and feudal 
homage. 

Two lads but sixteen years of age had come to 
Anhayea, from this province in company with some 



WINTER QUARTERS. 21/ 

Indian traders. So far as they could make themselves 
understood, though very unskilful interpreters, they 
represented the country as abounding in silver, gold 
and precious stones. In pantomime they described 
the process of mining and smelting the precious metals 
so accurately that experienced miners were convinced 
that they must have witnessed those operations. 

In the month of March, 1 540, De Soto left his com- 
fortable quarters, and commenced his march for thlt 
province, in a northeasterly direction. Their path 
led first through an almost unpeopled wilderness 
many leagues in extent. Each soldier bore his frugal 
supper or food upon his back. It consisted mainly 
of roasted corn pounded or ground into meal. 

An unobstructed but weary tramp of three days 
brought them through this desert region to a very 
singular village, called Capachiqui. In the midst of 
a vast morass, there was an island of elevated and 
dry ground. Here quite a populous village was 
erected, which commanded a wide spread view of the 
flat surrounding region. The village could only be 
approached by several causeways crossing the marsh, 
about three hundred feet in length. The country be- 
yond was fertile and sprinkled with small hamlets. 
Eight hundred armed warriors, on the open plain, 
presented a force, which the most valiant Indians 

would not venture to assail. The Spaniards entered 
10 



21 8 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

* 

the village by these causeways unopposed, and found 
there a not inhospitable reception. 

The day after their arrival, seven of De Soto's 
body-guard, thoughtless and rollicking young men, 
set out, without authority from their superior officers, 
to seek ami^sement in the neighboring hamlets. 
They had scarcely reached the main land, beyond the 
marsh, when the Indians, from an ambush, rushed 
upon them, and after a very fierce struggle all but one 
were slain, and that one, Aguilar, was mortally 
wounded. The soldiers in the village hastened to the 
relief of their comrades, but they were too late. 
Aguilar, in a dying condition, was carried back to the 
encampment. He had, however, sufficient strength 
left to make the following extraordinary state- 
ment: 

" You must know that a band of more than fifty 
savages sprang out of the thickets to attack us. 
The moment, however, they saw that we were but 
seven, and without our horses, seven warriors stepped 
forth, and the rest retired to some distance. They 
began the attack, and as we had neither arquebus 
nor cross-bow, we were entirely at their mercy. Be- 
ing more agile, and fleet of foot than our men, they 
leaped around us like so many devils, with horrid 
laughter, shooting us down like wild beasts without 
our being able to close with them. My poor com- 



WINTER QAARTERS. 219 

rades fell one after the other, and the savages seeing 
me alone, all seven rushed upon me, and with their 
bows battered me as you have witnessed." 

This singular event took place within the territory 
of Apalache, It is said that the Spaniards not un- 
frequently met with similar instances, in which the 
natives disdained to avail themselves of superior 
numbers. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Lost in the Wilderness. 

Incidents at Achise — Arrival at Cofa. — Friendly Reception by Cofa- 
qui. — The Armed Retinue. — Commission of Patofa. — Splendors 
of the March. — Lost in the Wilderness. — Peril of the Army. — 
Friendly Relations. — The Escape from the Wilderness. — They 
Reach the Frontiers of Cofachiqui. — Dismissal of Patofa. — Won- 
derful Reception by the Princess of Cofachiqui. 

After a couple of days of rest and feasting, the 
Spanish army resumed its march. De Soto led the 
advance with forty horsemen and seventy foot sol- 
diers. Ere long they entered the province of At- 
tapaha, from which the river Attapaha probably 
takes its name. On the morning of the third day 
they approached a village called Achise. The af- 
frighted natives had fled. Two warriors who had 
tarried behind, were captured as the dragoons came 
dashing into the streets. They were led into the 
presence of De Soto. Without waiting to be ad- 
dressed by him, they haughtily assailed him with 
the question, 

"What is it you seek in our land? Is it peace, 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 221 

or is it war?'' De Soto replied, through his inter- 
preter, 

" We seek not war with any one. We are in 
search of a distant province ; and all that we ask 
for is an unobstructed passage through your country, 
and food by the way." 

The answer seemed to them perfectly satisfac- 
tory, and they at once entered apparently into the 
most friendly relations. The captives were set at lib- 
erty and treated by the Spaniards, in all respects, as 
friends. Promptly the two warriors sent a message 
to their chief, informing him of the peaceful disposi- 
tion of the Spaniards, and he accordingly issued 
ciders to his people not to molest them. 

In this pleasant village, and surrounded by this 
friendly people, De Soto spent three days. He then 
resumed his journey, in a northeasterly direction, 
along the banks of some unknown river, fringed with 
mulberry trees, and winding through many luxuriant 
and beautiful valleys. The natives were all friendly, 
and not the slightest collision occurred. For eleven 
days the army continued its movements, encounter- 
ing nothing worthy of note. 

They then entered a province called Cofa. De 
Soto sent couriers in advance to the chief with prof- 
fers of friendship. The chief, in return, sent a large 
number of Indians laden with food for the strangers. 



222 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

With the provisions were sent rabbits, partridges, 
and a species of dog whose flesh was held in high 
esteem. The Spaniards suffered for want of meat ; 
for though game in the forest was abundant, being 
constantly on the march, they had no time for hunt- 
ing. 

The chief of Cofa received the Spaniards in his 
metropolitan town with great hospitality. He as- 
signed his own mansion to De Soto, and provided 
comfortable quarters for all his troops. The natives 
and the Spaniards mingled together without the 
slightest apparent antagonism. The province of 
Cofa was of large extent, populous and fertile. Here 
the Spaniards remained five days, entertained by 
the abounding hospitality of the chief. 

De Soto had thus far brought with him a piece 
of ordnance, which had proved of very little service. 
It was heavy and exceedingly difficult of transpor- 
tation. He decided to leave it behind him with 
this friendly people. To impress them, however, with 
an idea of its power as an engine of destruction, 
he caused it to be loaded and aimed at a large oak 
tree just outside of the village. Two shots laid the 
oak prostrate. The achievement filled both the 
chief and his people with amazement and awe. 

Again the army resumed its march towards the 
next province, which was called Cofaque ; whose 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 223 

chief was brother of Cofa. The Spaniards were 
escorted by Cofa and a division of his army, during 
one day's journey. The friendly chief then took an 
affectionate leave of De Soto, and sent forward cour- 
iers to inform his brother of the approach of the 
Spaniards and to intercede for his kindly offices in 
their behalf. It required a march of six days to 
reach the territory of the new chieftain. 

In response to Cofa's message, Cofaqui dispatched 
four of his subordinate chiefs, with a message of 
welcome to the Spaniards. He sent out his runners 
to bring him speedy intelligence of their approach. 
As soon as he received news that they were drawing 
near, he started himself, with a retinue of warriors 
in their richest decorations, to welcome the strangers. 
The meeting, on both sides, was equally cordial. 
Side by side, almost hand in hand, the Floridiansand 
the Spaniards entered the pleasant streets of Cofa- 
qui. The chief led De Soto to his own mansion, 
and left him in possession there while he retired to 
another dwelling. 

The intercourse between these two illustrious 
men seemed to be as cordial as that between two 
loving brothers. The Floridian chief, with great 
frankness, gave De Soto information respecting the 
extent, population and resources of his domain. He 
informed him that the province of Cofachiqui, of 



224 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

which he was in search, could only be reached by a 
journey of seven days, through a dreary wilderness. 
But he offered, should De Soto decide to continue 
his journey, to send a strong band of his army, to 
accompany him with ample supplies. De Soto after- 
wards ascertained that there was some duplicity in 
this proposal ; or rather, that the chief had a double 
object in view. It appeared, that there had been 
long and hereditary antagonism between the prov- 
ince of Cofaqui, and that of Cofachiqui ; and the 
chief availed himself of that opportunity to invade 
the territory of his rival. 

Scouts were sent out in all directions to assemble 
the Avarriors, and De Soto was surprised to find an 
army of four thousand soldiers, and as many burden- 
bearers, ready to accompany him. The provisions, 
with which they were fully supplied, consisted mainly 
of corn, dried plums and nuts of various kinds. In- 
dian hunters accompanied the expedition to search 
the forests for game. 

The Spaniards at first were not a little alarmed 
in finding themselves in company with such an army 
of natives ; outnumbering them eight to one, and 
they were apprehensive of treachery. Soon, however, 
their fears in that direction were allayed, for the 
chief frankly avowed the object of the expedition. 
Summoning before him Patofa, the captain of the 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 22$ 

native army, he said to him, in presence of the lead- 
ing Spanisli officers in the public square : 

" You well know that a perpetual enmity has 
existed between our fathers and the Indians of Cof- 
achiqui. That hatred you know has not abated in 
the least. The wrongs we have received from that 
vile tribe still rankle in our hearts, unavenged. The 
present opportunity must not be lost. You, at the 
head of my braves, must accompany this chief and 
his warriors, and, under their protection, wreak ven- 
geance on our enemies." 

Patofa, who was a man of very imposing appear- 
ance, stepped forward, and after going through sev- 
eral evolutions with a heavy broadsword carved from 
wood, exceedingly hard, said : 

" I pledge my word to fulfill your commands, so 

far as may be in my power. I promise, by aid of 

the strangers, to revenge the insults and deaths, our 

fathers have sustained from the natives of Cofachi- 

qui. My vengeance shall be such, that the memory 

of past evils shall be wiped away forever. My daring 

to reappear in your presence will be a token that 

your commands have been executed. Should the 

fates deny my hopes, never again shall you see me, 

never again shall the sun shine upon me. If the 

enemy deny me death, I will inflict upon myself the 

punishment my cowardice or evil fortune will merit." 
10* 



226 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

It was indeed a large army which then com- 
menced its march, for it consisted of four thousand 
native warriors, and four thousand retainers to carry- 
supplies and clothing, and between eight and nine 
hundred Spaniards. The Indians were plumed and 
decorated in the highest style of military display. 
The horses of the Spaniards were gayly caparisoned, 
and their burnished armor glittered in the sun. 
Silken banners waving in the breeze and bugle peals 
echoing over the plains, added both to the beauty 
and the sublimity of the scene. 

The Spaniards conducted their march as in an 
enemy's country, and according to the established 
usages of war. They formed in squadrons with a 
van and rear guard. The natives followed, also in 
martial array ; for they were anxious to show the 
Spaniards that they were acquainted with military 
discipline and tactics. Thus in long procession, but 
without artillery trains or baggage wagons, they 
moved over the extended plains and threaded the 
defiles of the forest. At night they invariably en- 
camped at a little distance from each other. Both 
parties posted their sentinels, and adopted every 
caution to guard against surprise. 

Indeed, it appears that De Soto still had some 
distrust of his allies, whose presence was uninvited, 
and with whose company he would gladly have dis- 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 22/ 

pensed. The more he reflected upon his situation, 
the more embarrassing it seemed to him. He was 
entering a distant and unknown province, ostensibly 
on a friendly mission, and it was his most earnest 
desire to secure the good-will and cooperation of the 
natives. And yet he was accompanied by an army 
whose openly avowed object was, to ravage the 
country and to butcher the people. 

The region upon which they first entered, being 
a border land between the two hostile nations, was 
almost uninhabited, and was much of the way quite 
pathless. It consisted, however, of a pleasant di- 
versity of hills, forests and rivers. The considerable 
band of hunters which accompanied the native army, 
succeeded in capturing quite an amount of game for 
the use of the troops. For seven days the two 
armies moved slowly over these widely extended 
plains, when they found themselves utterly bewil- 
dered and lost in the intricacies of a vast, dense, 
tangled forest, through which they could not find 
even an Indian's trail. The guides professed to be 
entirely at fault, and all seemed to be alike bewil- 
dered. 

De Soto was quite indignant, feeling that he had 
been betrayed and led into an ambush for his de- 
struction. He summoned Patofa to his presence and 
said to him : 



228 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

" Why have you, under the guise of friendship, led 
us into this wilderness, whence we can discover no 
way of extricating ourselves? I will never believe 
that among eight thousand Indians there is not one 
to be found capable of showing us the way to Cofa- 
chiqui. It is not at all likely that you who have 
maintained perpetual war with that tribe, should 
know nothing of the public road and secret paths 
leading from one village to another." 

Patofa made the following frank and convincing 
reply. 

" The wars that have been waged between these 
two provinces, have not been carried on by pitched 
battles nor invasions of either party, but by skirmishes 
by small bands who resort to the streams and rivers 
we have crossed, to fish ; and also by combats be- 
tween hunting parties, as the wilderness we have tra- 
versed is the common hunting ground of both nations. 
The natives of Cofachiqui are more powerful and 
have always worsted us in fight. Our people were 
therefore dispirited and dared not pass over their own 
frontiers. 

" Do you suspect that I have led your army into 
these deserts to perish ? If so, take what you please. 
If my head will suffice, take it ; if not you may be- 
head every Indian, as they will obey my mandate to 
the death." 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 229 

The manner of Patofa was in accordance with 
these feeling and manly words. De Soto no longer 
cherished a doubt of his sincerity, and became also con- 
vinced that their guides were utterly unable to extri- 
cate him. Under these circumstances nothing re- 
mained but blindly to press forward or to retrace his 
steps. They at length found some narrow openings 
in the forest through which they forced their way 
until they arrived, just before sunset, upon the banks 
of a deep and rapid stream which seemed to present 
an impassable barrier before them. 

They had no canoes or rafts with which to cross 
the river ; their food was nearly consumed, as it had 
been supposed that a supply for seven days would be 
amply sufficient to enable them to traverse the des- 
ert. To turn back was certain death by starvation ; 
to remain where they were was equal destruction ; to 
go forward seemed impossible, for they had not suffi- 
cient food to support them even while constructing 
rafts. It was the darkest hour in all their wander- 
ings. Despair seemed to take possession of all hearts 
excepting that of De Soto. He still kept up his 
courage, assuming before his people an untroubled 
and even cheerful spirit. 

The river afforded water to drink. A large grove 
of pine trees bordering the river, beneath whose 
fragrant shade they were encamped, sheltered them 



230 FERDINAND DE SUTO. 

from the sun. The level and extended plain, dry 
and destitute of underbrush, presented excellent 
camping-ground. Food only was wanting. But 
without this food in a few short days the whole 
army must perish. 

De Soto, that very evening leaving the armies 
there, took a detachment of horse and foot and set 
off himself in search of some relief or path of extri- 
cation. Late in the night he returned, perplexed 
and distressed, having accomplished nothing. A 
council of war was held. It was promptly decided 
that the armies should remain where they were while 
detachments were sent in all directions in search of 
food or of some path of escape. 

These detachments left early in the morning and 
returned late at night having discovered neither road 
nor corn-field, nor habitation. De Soto then organized 
four bands of horse and two of foot to go up and 
down the river, and to penetrate the interior, and to 
make as wide an exploration as possible within the 
limit of five days. Each band was accompanied by 
a large number of natives. Patofa himself went with 
one of these detachments. A thousand Indian 
warriors were scattered through the forest in search 
of a road and such game as could be found. The 
Governor remained on the banks of the river anx- 
iously awaiting their return. 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 23 1 

" The four thousand Indians," writes Mr. Irving, 
" who remained with him, salHed out every morning 
and returned at night, some with herbs and roots 
that were eatable, others with fish, and others again 
with birds and small animals killed with their bows 
and arrows. These supplies were, however, by no 
means sufficient for the subsistence of such a multi- 
tude. 

" De Soto fared equally with his men in every 
respect ; and, though troubled and anxious for the 
fate of his great expedition, he wore a sunny counte- 
nance to cheer up his followers. These chivalrous 
spirits appreciated his care and kindness, and to 
solace him they concealed their sufferings, assumed 
an air of contentedness, and appeared as happy as 
though revelling in abundance." 

Most of the exploring parties suffered no less 
from hunger than did their companions who remained 
behind. Juan De Anasco, after traversing the banks 
of the river for three days, had his heart gladdened 
by the sight of a small village. From an eminence 
he saw that the country beyond was fertile, well 
cultivated and dotted here and there with hamlets. 
In the village, for some unexplained reason, he found 
a large amount of provisions accumulated, consisting 
mainly of corn. He immediately dispatched four 
horsemen back to De Soto with the joyful tidings. 



232 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

They took with them such food as they could carry. 
This proved to be the first village in the long-sought- 
for province of Cofachiqui. 

It will be remembered that Patofa, the com- 
mander-in-chief of the native army, had, with a large 
number of his warriors, accompanied Aiiasco. He 
had pledged his word to his chief that he would do 
everything in his power to harass, pillage and destroy 
their ancestral foes. Afiasco encamped his band a 
little outside the village. At midnight Patofa and 
his warriors crept stealthily from the encampment, 
pillaged the temple which contained many treasures 
prized by the Indians, and killed and scalped every 
native whom they met, man, woman or child. When 
Anasco awoke in the morning and found what they 
had done, he was terrified. The outrage had been 
committed by troops under his own command. He 
was apprehensive that every man in the village, 
aided by such warriors as could be gathered from 
around, would rush upon him in revenge, and that 
he and his enfeebled followers would be destroyed. 
Immediately he commenced a retreat to meet De 
Soto, who he doubted not would be promptly on the 
move to join him. 

The four couriers reached the camp in one day, 
though in their slow exploring tour it had required 
three days to accomplish the forty miles which they 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 233 

had traversed. The troops were overjoyed at the 
glad tidings, and immediately prepared to resume 
their march. Several of their detachments had not 
yet returned. In order to give them information of 
the direction which the army had taken, De Soto 
wrote a letter, placed it in a box, and buried it at 
the foot of a tree. Upon the bark of the tree, he 
had these words conspicuously cut : " Dig at the 
root of this pine, and you will find a letter." 

The half famished troops, inspired with new en- 
ergies, reached the village in a day and a half, where 
their hunger was appeased. The scattered detach- 
ments arrived a few days after. The force of De 
Soto was too strong for the natives to attack him, 
notwithstanding the provocation they had received. 
He found, however, much to his chagrin, that he was 
utterly unable to restrain the savage propensities 
of his allies. For seven days the Spaniards so- 
journed in this frontier village of Cofachiqui. War- 
like bands were continually stealing out, penetrating 
the region around, killing and scalping men, women 
and children, and committing every conceivable out- 
rage of barbaric warfare. 

De Soto could endure this no longer. He called 
Patofa before him, and told him in very emphatic 
terms that he must return to his own province. lie 
thanked the chieftain very cordially for his friendly 



234 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

escort, made him a present of knives, clothing, and 
other valuables, and dismissed him and his followers. 
Patofa was not unwilling to return. He was highly 
gratified with the presents he had received, and 
still more gratified that he had been permitted to 
wreak vengeance on his hereditary foes. 

Two days after his departure, the Spanish army 
was again in motion, along the banks of the river. 
Every step they took revealed to them the awful 
ravages committed by the bands of Patofa. They 
passed many dwellings and many small hamlets, 
where the ground was covered with the scalpless 
bodies of the dead. The natives had fled in terror 
to the woods, so that not a living being was encoun- 
tered. There was, however, a plentiful supply of 
food in the villages, and the army again enjoyed 
abundance. 

The heroic Aiiasco was sent in advance to search 
out the way and, if possible, to capture some Indians 
as guides. He took with him a small band of thirty 
foot-soldiers, who were ordered to move as noise- 
lessly as possible, that they might, perchance, come 
upon the natives by surprise. There was quite a 
broad, good road leading along the banks over which 
the band advanced. Night came upon them when 
they were about six miles ahead of the army. They 
were moving in profound silence and with noiseless 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 235 

step through a grove, when they heard, just before 
them, the sounds of a village. The barking of dogs, 
the shouts of children, and the voices of men and 
women, reached their ears. Pressing eagerly forward, 
hoping to capture some Indians in the suburbs, they 
found that there was a sudden turn in the river and 
that they stood upon the banks of its deep and 
swiftly flowing flood, with the village on the other 
side. There was no means of crossing, neither 
would it have been prudent to have crossed with 
such small numbers, not knowing the force they 
might encounter there. 

They dispatched couriers back in the night, to in- 
form De Soto of their discovery. By the break of 
day, the army was again in motion, De Soto himself 
taking the lead, with one hundred horse and one hun- 
dred foot. When he reached the banks, and the na- 
tives upon the opposite shore caught sight of his 
glittering dragoons, on their magnificent steeds, they 
were struck with amazement and consternation. 

It would seem that the language of these differ- 
ent tribes must have been essentially the same, for 
Juan Ortiz was still their interpreter. He shouted 
across the river, assuring the natives of the friendly 
intentions of the Spaniards, and urging them to send 
some one over to convey a message to their chief. 
After some little hesitation and deliberation, the In- 



236 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

dians launched a large canoe, in which six Indians of 
venerable appearance took their seats, while quite a 
number of lusty men grasped the oars. Very rapidly 
the canoe was driven through the water. 

De Soto, who had watched these movements with 
deep interest, perceived that he was about to be 
visited by men of much importance. He had there- 
fore brought forward and placed upon the banks a 
very showy throne, or chair of state, which he always 
carried with him for such purposes. Here he took 
his seat, with his retinue of officers around him. 

The native chieftains landed without any appa- 
rent fear, approached him with three profound rever- 
ences, and then with much dignity inquired, " Do you 
come for peace or for war ? '' 

" I come for peace," De Soto replied, " and seek 
only an unmolested passage through your land. I 
need food for my people, and implore your assistance, 
by means of canoes and rafts, to cross the river. 

The Indians replied, that they were themselves 
somewhat destitute of provisions ; that a terrible 
pestilence the preceding year had swept off many of 
their inhabitants ; and that others in their consterna- 
tion had fled from their homes, thus neglecting to 
cultivate the fields. 

They said that their chieftain was a young prin- 
cess who had recently inherited the government, and 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 237 

that they had no doubt that she would receive them 
with hospitahty, and do everything in her power, to 
promote their welfare. Having thus concluded this 
friendly interview, the chiefs returned to the other 
side of the river. 

Very soon the Spaniards, who eagerly watched 
every movement, perceived a decided commotion in 
the village. A large and highly decorated canoe 
appeared upon the banks ; then quite a gorgeous 
palanquin was seen borne by four men, descending 
towards the stream ; then several other canoes of 
imposing structure seemed to be preparing for an 
aquatic procession. From the palanquin a graceful 
girl, showily dressed, entered the state canoe and re- 
clined upon cushions in the stern under a canopy. 
Eight female attendants accompanied her. 

The six ambassadors, who had already visited De 
Soto, took seats in the canoe which led the van, 
driven as before by a large number of sinewy arms. 
The royal barge was attached to this canoe and was 
towed by it. Several other boats, filled with distin- 
guished men, followed in the rear, completing the im- 
posing show. 

As the young princess stepped on shore, all the 
Spaniards were deeply impressed with her dignity, 
grace and beauty. To their eyes, she was in form 
and feature as perfect as any image which Grecian 



238 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

artist ever sculptured. Her attendants brought with 
them a chair of state upon which she took her seat 
after courteously bowing to the Governor. Through 
an interpreter they immediately entered into conver- 
sation. The princess confirmed the statement of her 
ambassadors in reference to the pestilence, but offered 
to do everything in her power to provide them with 
food. She offered one-half of her own residence to 
Dc Soto for his accommodation, and one-half of the 
houses in her village as barracks for the soldiers. 
She also promised that by the next day rafts and 
canoes should be in readiness to transport the Span- 
iards across the river. 

The generous soul of De Soto was deeply touched, 
and he assured her of his lasting friendship and that 
of his sovereign. At the close of the interview the 
princess rose, and as a present, suspended a string of 
costly pearls around the neck of De Soto. The Gov- 
ernor then rose and presented her with a ring of gold 
set with a ruby, which she placed upon one of her 
fingers. Thus terminated this extraordinary inter- 
view. What a difference between peace and war ! 



" Were half the power that fills the world with terror, 
Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts. 
Given to redeem the human mind from error. 
There were no need for arsenals or forts. 



LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 239 

' The warrior's nnme would be a name abhorred ; 
And eveiy nation that should lift again 
Its hand against a brother, on its forehead 
Would wear forevermore the curse of Cain." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

TJie Indian Princess. 

Crossing the River. — Hospitable Reception. — Attempts to visit the 
Queen Mother. — Suicide of the Prince. — Futile search for Gold. 
— The Discovery of Pearls. — The Pearl Fishery. — The Princess a 
Captive. — Held in Silken Chains. — Her Escape. — Location of 
Cutifachiqui. — The March Resumed. 

The next day after the extraordinary interview 
which we have described in the last chapter, the prin- 
cess ordered several large rafts to be constructed, 
and with these, aided by a number of canoes, the 
army crossed the rapid stream. Four horses, in at- 
tempting to swim the swift river, were carried away 
and drowned. These animals were so precious 
that the loss was deplored by the whole army. 

When the troops had all crossed, they found very 
pleasant accommodations provided for them. Some 
were lodged in the village. For the rest commodious 
wigwams were erected just outside of the village in a 
beautiful mulberry grove on the river banks. The 
province of Cofachiqui was found to be very fertile 
and quite densely populated. The natives were in 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 24I 

complexion nearly as white as the Spaniards. They 
had agreeable featui-es, graceful forms, and were very 
frank and aimable in disposition. They did not seem 
to be fond of war, though often involved in conflicts 
with their neighbors. According to the custom of 
the times, all prisoners of war were enslaved and 
were employed in servile labor. To prevent their 
escape the cruel expedient was adopted of cutting 
the main tendon of one leg just above the heel. 

The mother of the princess of this tribe was a 
widow, residing in a retired home about thirty-six 
miles down the river. De Soto, who was anxious to 
secure the firm friendship of this interesting people, 
expressed an earnest desire to see the queen mother. 
The princess immediately dispatched twelve of her 
chieftains to urge her mother to visit her, that she 
might be introduced to the strange visitors, and see 
the wonderful animals on which they rode. 

She however declined the invitation, expressing 
her very decided disapproval of the conduct of her 
daughter, as both inexpedient and indelicate, in 
entering into such friendly relations with utter stran- 
gers, of whose ulterior designs she could know noth- 
ing. This message, greatly increased the desire of 
De Soto to have an interview with the queen mother, 
that he might conciliate her friendship. He there- 
fore dispatched Juan De Auasco, who was alike dis- 



242 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

tinguished for bravery and prudence, with thirty- 
companions on foot, to convey to her presents and 
friendly messages, and very earnest requests that 
she would visit them at the court of her daughter. 

The princess sent a near relative of the family as 
guide to this party — a young man about twenty- 
one years of age, and exceedingly attractive both in 
person and character. He was richly habited in 
garments of soft deerskin, beautifully fringed and 
embroidered, with a head-dress of various colored 
plumes. 

" In his hand he bore a beautiful bow, so highly 
polished as to appear as if finely enamelled. At his 
shoulder hung a quiver full of arrows. With a light 
and elastic step and an animated and gallant air his 
whole appearance was that of an ambassador, worthy 
of the young and beautiful princess whom he served." 
The morning was somewhat advanced, ere they 
left the village. It was a beautiful day in a lovely 
clime. Their route led down the banks of the river 
through luxuriant and enchanting scenery. After a 
pleasant walk of ten or twelve miles, "they rested in 
the shade of a grove, for their noonday meal. Their 
young guide had been very social all the way, enter- 
taining them with information of the region through 
which they were passing, and of the people. As 
they were partaking of their refreshments, suddenly 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 243 

the aspect of their young companion became greatly- 
altered. He was silent, thoughtful and apparently 
deeply depressed. At length he quietly took the 
quiver from his shoulder, and slowly and seemingly 
lost in deep reflection, drew out the arrows one by 
one. They were very beautiful, of the highest possi- 
ble finish, keenly pointed, and triangularly feathered. 

The Spaniards took them up, admired them great- 
ly, and passed them from hand to hand. At length he 
drew out an arrow barbed with flint, long, and sharp, 
and shaped like a dagger. Casting an anxious glance 
around, and seeing the attention of the Spaniards 
engrossed in examining his weapons, he plunged the 
keen pointed arrow down his throat, severing an 
artery, and almost immediately fell dead. The sol- 
diers were shocked and bewildered, not being able 
to conceive of any reason for the dreadful occur- 
rence. There were several Indian attendants in the 
company, who seemed to be overwhelmed with dis- 
tress, uttering loud cries of grief over the corpse. 

It subsequently appeared, that the young guide 
was a great favorite with the queen mother ; that he 
knew that she was very unwilling to have any ac- 
quaintance with the Spaniards, and he apprehended 
that it was their object to seize her and carry her 
off by violence. The thought that he was guiding 
them to her retreat overwhelmed him. He could 



244 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

not endure the idea of meeting her, and perhaps of 
being reproached as her betrayer. 

On the other hand, the queen, whom he revered 
and loved, had commissioned him to conduct the 
Spaniards to her mother's abode. He did not dare 
to disobey her commands. Either alternative was 
more to be dreaded by him than death. The ingen- 
uous young man had, therefore, endeavored to es- 
cape from the dilemma by self-destruction. 

Juan De Ailasco was not only deeply grieved by 
the fate of his young friend, but also greatly per- 
plexed as to the course he was then to pursue. 
None of the Indian attendants knew where the 
widow^ was concealed. ?Ic took several natives pris- 
oners, and anxiously inquired of them respecting the 
residence of the queen m.other. But either they 
could not, or would not, give him any information. 
After wandering about fruitlessly until noon of the 
next day, he returned to the camp, much mortified 
in reporting to De Soto the utter failure of his ex- 
pedition. 

Two days after his return, an Indian came to him 
and offered to conduct him down the river in a canoe, 
to the dwelling of the queen mother. Eagerly he 
accepted the proposition. Two large canoes, with 
strong rowers, were prepared. Afiasco, with twenty 
companions, set out on this second expedition. The 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 245 

queen heard of his approach, and, with a few attend- 
ants, secretly fled to another retreat far away. After 
a search of six days, the canoes returned, having 
accompHshed nothing. De Soto rehnquished all 
further endeavors to obtain an interview with the 
widow. 

In the meantime, while Aiiasco was engaged in 
these unsuccessful enterprises, De Soto was making 
very anxious inquiries respecting the silver and the 
gold which he had been informed was to be found 
in the province. The princess listened to his de- 
scription of the yellow metal and the white metal of 
which he was in search, and said that they were both 
to be found in great abundance in her territories. 
She immediately sent out some Indians, to bring 
him specimens. They soon returned laden with a 
yellow metal somewhat resembling gold in color, 
but which proved to be nothing but an alloy of cop- 
per. The shining substance which he had supposed 
was silver, was nothing but a worthless species of 
mica, or quartz. Thus again, to his bitter disap- 
pointment, De Soto awoke from his dreams of gold- 
en treasure, to the toils and sorrows of his weary 
Hfe. 

The princess seemed to sympathize with her 
guest in the bitterness of his disappointment. In 
her attempts at consolation, she informed him that 



246 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

at the distance of about three miles from where they 
were, there was a village called Talomeco, which 
was the ancient capital of the realm ; that here 
there was a vast sepulchre, in which all the chieftains 
and great warriors had been buried ; that their bod- 
ies were decorated with great quantities of pearls. 

De Soto, with a large retinue of his own officers 
a4id of the household of the princess, visited this 
mausoleum. Much to his surprise, he found there 
an edifice three hundred feet in length, and one 
hundred and twenty in breadth, with a lofty roof. 
The entrance was decorated with gigantic statuary 
of wood. One of these statues was twelve feet in 
height. In the interior many statues and carved 
ornaments were found. 

A large number of wooden chests or coffins con- 
tained the decaying bodies of the illustrious dead. 
By the side of each of these there was another 
smaller chest, containing such valuables as it was 
probably supposed the chief would need in the spirit- 
land. Both the Inca and the Portuguese narrative 
agree in the account of the almost incredible number 
of pearls there found. It is said that the Spaniards 
obtained fourteen bushels, and that the princess as- 
sured them, that by visiting the mausoleums of the 
various villages, they could find enough pearls to 
load down all the horses of the army. 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 247 

The Spaniards generally were greatly elated at 
the discovery of these riches. Pearls were esti- 
mated at a value almost equal to diamonds. It is said 
that Queen Cleopatra possessed a single pearl which 
was valued at three hundred and seventy-five thou- 
sand dollars. Philip II. of Spain received as a present 
a pearl, about the size of a pigeon's egg, valued at 
one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. 

De Soto was urged to establish his colony upon 
this river, which has variously been conjectured to 
have been the St. Helena, the Oconee, the Ogeechee, 
and the Savannah. The country was beautiful and 
fertile ; the climate delightful ; and apparently an 
inexhaustible pearl fishery near. It was urged that 
an agricultural colony could be established on the 
fertile banks of the river, while from the seaport at 
its mouth a lucrative trade could be carried on with 
the mother country for all the rich productions of 
Spain. 

But the persistent spirit of De Soto was not to 
be turned from its one great all-absorbing object, 
the search for gold. He urged, and with great show 
of reason, that, in consequence of the recent pesti- 
lence, there was not sufficient provision in the coun- 
try, to support the army for a month ; that by con- 
tinuing their march they might enter far richer 
provinces, and might find mines of gold. Should 



248 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

they be disappointed, they could easily return ; and 
in the meantime, the Indians having replanted their 
land, the fields would wave with abundant golden 
harvests. 

In an army of eight or nine hundred Spanish 
adventurers, there would of course be many worth- 
less characters, difficult of restraint. De Soto had 
been in this village several weeks. Notwithstanding 
all his endeavors to promote peace and friendship, 
several broils had arisen between the natives and 
some of the low and degraded of his soldiery. The 
conduct of these vile men had produced a general 
feeling of ill-will among the natives. Even the 
princess herself manifested estrangement. She had 
become distant and reserved, and was evidently 
desirous that her no longer welcome guests should 
take their speedy departure. There were some 
indications that the princess so far distrusted the 
Spaniards that, like her more prudent mother, she 
was about secretly to escape from them by flight. 

This would leave the Spaniards in a very embar- 
rassed condition. They needed guides to conduct 
them through the extended territory of the princess. 
Heavily armed as they were, they needed porters to 
carry their burdens of extra clothing and provisions. 
The flight of the princess would be the signal for the 
natives, all over the territory, to rise in a war of 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 249 

attempted •extermination. The queen mother would 
doubtless do everything in her power to rouse and 
stimulate this hostility. The Spaniards thus assailed 
on every side, destitute of guides, without porters 
to carry their baggage, and with but little food, 
would find themselves compelled in self-defence, to 
cut their way, with blood-dripping sabres, through 
their foes, to rob their granaries, and to leave behind 
them a path strown with the dead, and filled with 
misery. 

Again De Soto found himself in a false position 
Again he felt constrained to do that which his own 
conscience told him was unjust. The only possible 
way, as it seemed to him, by which he could obtain 
extrication from these awful difficulties, was to seize 
the person of the, princess, his friend and benefactor, 
and hold her as a captive to secure the good 
behavior of her subjects. He knew that their love 
for her was such that so long as she was in his 
power, they would not enter upon any hostile move- 
ment which might bring down vengeance upon her 
head. 

If De Soto had accepted the spirit of the noble 
letter from Isabella, and had said, " I will no longer 
persevere in this invasion of the lands of others, 
which is always plunging me more and more deeply 
into difficulties," — had he said frankly to the friendly 
11* 



250 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

princess, "I have decided to return to my home, and 
I soHcit your friendly cooperation to assist me on my 
way ; and had he made her a present, in token of his 
gratitude, of some of those articles with which he 
could easily have parted, and which were of priceless 
value to her, he might doubtless have retired unmo- 
lested. Instead of this he followed the infamous 
example which Pizarro had set him in Peru. 

He appointed a guard, who were directed to keep 
a constant watch upon the princess, so that she 
could by no possibility escape ; at the same time 
he informing her, in the most courteous tones, that 
the protection of his army and of her own people 
rendered it necessary that she should accompany 
him on his march. He held her in silken chains, 
treating her with the utmost delicacy and deference. 
The princess had sufficient shrewdness to affect 
compliance with this arrangement. It certainly 
accomplished the desired effect. All strife between 
the natives and the Spaniards ceased, a sufficient 
body of porters accompanied the army, and its 
march was unimpeded. A beautiful palanquin was 
provided for the princess, and the highest honors 
were lavished upon her. 

Colonel A. J. Pickett, in his interesting and very 
carefully prepared History of Alabama, speaking of 
the locality of this village where De Soto tarried 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 25 1 

SO long, and encountered so many adventures, 
says : 

" He entered the territory of the present Geor- 
gia at its southwestern border, and successively 
crossing the Ockmulgee, Oconee, and Ogeechee, 
finally rested on the banks of the Savannah, im- 
mediately opposite the modern Silver Bluff. On 
the eastern side was the town of Cutifachiqui, 
where lived an Indian queen, young, beautiful, 
and unmarried, and who ruled the country around 
to a vast extent. In 1736 George Golphin, then 
a young Irishman, established himself as an Indian 
trader at this point, and gave the old site of Cu- 
tifachiqui the name of Silver Bluff. The most 
ancient Indians informed him that this was the 
place where De Soto found the Indian princess ; 
and this tradition agrees with that preserved by 
other old traders, and handed down to me.'' 

According to this statement the village of Cu- 
tifachiqui was on the eastern bank of the Savan- 
nah river, in Barnwell county, in the State of 
South Carolina. On the morning of the 4th of 
May, 1540, De Soto again put his army in motion, 
taking with him the beautiful queen and her reti- 
nue of plumed warriors. All this country was 
then called Florida. The army advanced rapidly 
up the eastern bank of the Savannah river, where 



252 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

they forded the stream, and, again entering the 
present State of Georgia, traversed nearly its whole 
breadth until they reached the head waters of the 
Coosa river. Here, at the confluence of the Oos- 
tanaula and Etowa rivers, they found a large Indian 
town called Chiaha, near the present site of Rome. 

While on the march across the State of Georgia, 
the queen, probably dreading to be carried captive 
beyond her own domain, and aided by an under- 
standing with her retinue, leaped from the palan- 
quin and disappeared in a dense forest through 
which they were passing. De Soto never saw her 
or heard from her again. Undoubtedly a band of 
her warriors were in rendezvous there to receive 
her. 

For five days the adventurers pressed along as 
rapidly as possible, over a hilly country about sixty 
miles in breadth. Though w^ell watered, and 
abounding in beautiful valleys, luxuriant with mul- 
berry groves and rich prairies, it seemed to be 
quite uninhabited. Having crossed this mountain- 
ous region, they reached a populous district called 
Guachule. The chief had received an intimation 
of the approach of the Spaniards, and that they 
came as messengers of peace and not of war. 
When De Soto and his band, led by native guides 
whom they had picked up by the way, had ar- 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 253 

rived within two miles of the village of the chief, 
they discovered him approaching them with a reti- 
nue of five hundred plumed warriors, adorned 
with glittering robes and weapons in the highest 
style of semi-barbaric display. The chief was un- 
embarrassed, dignified, and courtly in his address. 
He received De Soto with truly fraternal kindness, 
escorted' him to his village, which consisted of 
three hundred spacious houses, in a beautiful val- 
ley of running streams at the base of adjacent 
hills. 

The dwelling of the chief was upon a spacious 
artificial mound, the summit of which was suffi- 
ciently broad for the large edifice, leaving a ter- 
race all around it about twelve feet in breadth. 
Here De Soto remained four days, enjoying the 
hospitality of the friendly Cacique. 

Resuming their journey, the army marched 
down the banks of a large stream, supposed to be 
the Etowa, which empties into the Coosa. For 
five days they continued their march through an 
uninteresting country, almost destitute of inhabit- 
ants, until, having traversed, as they supposed, 
about ninety miles, they came in sight of a large 
village, called Chiaha. 

De Soto, having arrived opposite the great 
town of Chiaha, which probably occupied the pres- 



254 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

ent site of Rome, crossed the Oostanaula in ca- 
noes, and upon rafts made of logs, prepared by 
the Indians, and took up his quarters in the town. 
The noble young chief received De Soto with un- 
affected joy, and made him the following address : 

" Mighty Chief: — Nothing could have made me 
so happy as to be the means of serving you and 
your warriors. Vou sent me word from Guaxule 
to have corn collected to last your army two 
months. Here I have twenty barns full of the 
best which the country can afford. If I have not 
met your wishes respect my tender age, and re- 
ceive my good-will to do for you whatever I am 
able." 

The Governor responded in a kind manner, and 
was then conducted to the chief's own house, pre- 
pared for his accommodation. The confluence of 
the Oostanaula and Etowa at this point forms 
the Coosa. Here De Soto remained for a fort- 
night, recruiting his wearied men and his still 
more exhausted horses. It was bright and balmy 
summer, and the soldiers encamping in a luxuri- 
ant mulberry grove a little outside of the town, 
enjoyed, for a season, rest and abundance. De 
Soto, as usual, made earnest inquiries for gold. 
He was informed that about thirty miles north of 
him there were mines of copper, and also of some 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 255 

metal of the color of copper, but finer, brighter, 
and softer ; and that the natives sometimes melted 
them together in their manufacture of barbs, spear- 
heads, and hatchets. 

This intelligence excited De Soto with new 
hopes. He had occasionally met on his way na- 
tives with hatchets composed of copper and gold 
melted together. As the province, which was called 
Chisca, was separated from Chiaha by a pathless 
wilderness which horses could not traverse, De 
Soto sent two of his most trusty followers on an 
exploring tour through the region, conducted by 
Indian guides. After an absence of ten days they 
returned with the disappointing report that they 
found nothing there but copper of different degrees 
of purity. 

The rivers in the vicinity of Chiaha seem to 
have abounded with pearl oysters, and large num- 
bers of beautiful pearls were obtained. The na- 
tives nearly spoiled them all by boring them through 
with a red-hot rod, that they might string them 
as bracelets. One day the Cacique presented De 
Soto with a string of pearls six feet in length, 
each pearl as large as a filbert. These gems would 
have been of almost priceless value but for the 
action of fire upon them. 

De Soto expressed some curiosity to see how 



256 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

the pearls were obtained. The Cacique immedi- 
ately dispatched forty canoes down the river to 
fish during the night for pearl oysters. In the 
morning De Soto accompanied the Cacique to the 
banks of the riyer where the oysters were col- 
lected. Large fires were built, and the oysters 
placed upon the glowing coals. The heat opened 
them, and the pearls were sought for. From some 
of the first thus opened ten or twelve pearls were 
obtained, about the size of peas. They were all, 
however, more or less injured by the heat. Col. 
Pickett says that the oyster mentioned was the 
muscle, to be found in all the rivers of Alabama. 

Again Dq Soto commenced his journey, leaving 
the friendly chief and his people well contented 
with the presents he made them of gayly colored 
cloths, knives, and other trinkets. Following the 
banks of the Coosa to the west they soon entered 
what is now the State of Alabama, and on the 
second of July came to a large native town named 
Acoste. The tribe, or nation, inhabiting this re- 
gion, was famed for its martial prowess. The Ca- 
cique, a fierce warrior, did not condescend to advance 
to meet De Soto, but at the head of fifteen hun- 
dred of his soldiers, well armed and gorgeously 
uniformed, awaited in the public square the ap- 
proach of the Spanish chief. De Soto encamped 



THE INDIAN PRINCESS. 257 

his army just outside of the town, and, with a 
small retinue, rode in to pay his respects to the 
Cacique. 

Some of the vagabond soldiers straggled into 
the city, and were guilty of some outrages, which 
led the natives to fall upon them. Dc Soto, with 
his accustomed presence of mind, seized a cudgel 
and assisted the natives in fighting the Spaniards, 
while at the same moment he dispatched a cour- 
ier to summon the whole army to his rescue. 
Peace was soon established, but there was some 
irritation on both sides. The next morning De 
Soto was very willing to leave the neighborhood, 
and the chief was not unwilling to have him. 

De Soto crossed the river Coosa to the eastern 
banks, and journeying along in a southerly direc- 
tion, at the rate of about twelve miles a day, passed 
over a fertile and populous region, nearly three hun- 
dred miles in extent. It is supposed his path led 
through the present counties of Benton, Talladega, 
Coosa, and Tallapoosa, in Alabama. Throughout 
the whole route they were treated by the natives 
with the most profuse hospitality, being fed by them 
liberally, and supplied with guides to lead them 
from one village to another. The province which 
De Soto was thus traversing, and which was far- 
famed for its beauty and fertility, was called Coosa. 



258 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

With a delightful climate, and abounding in fine 
meadows and beautiful little rivers, this region was 
charming to De Soto and his followers. The nu- 
merous barns were full of corn, while acres of that 
which was growing bent to the warm rays of the 
sun and rustled in the breeze. In the plains were 
plum trees, peculiar to the country, and others re- 
sembling those of Spain. Wild fruit clambered to 
the tops of the loftiest trees, and lower branches 
were laden with delicious Isabella grapes."* 

This is supposed to have been the same native 
grape, called the Isabella, which has since been so 
extensively cultivated. 

* History of Alabama, by Albert James Pickett, p. 17. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Dreadful Battle of Mobila. 

The Army in Alabama. — Barbaric Pageant. — The Chief of Tusca- 
loosa. — Native Dignity. — Suspected Treachery of the Chief. — 
Mobila, its Location and Importance. — Cunning of the Chief. — 
The Spaniards Attacked. — Incidents of the Battle. — Disastrous 
Results. 

On the 15th of July, 1540, the army came in 
sight of the metropoHtan town of the rich and popu- 
lous province through which it was passing. The 
town, hke the province, bore the name of Coosa. 
The army had travelled slowly, so that the native 
chief, by his swift footmen, had easily kept himself 
informed of all its movements. When within a mile 
or two of Coosa, De Soto saw in the distance a very 
splendid display of martial bands advancing to meet 
him. The friendly greeting he had continually re- 
ceived disarmed all suspicion of a hostile encounter. 

The procession rapidly approached. At its head 
was the chief, a young man twenty-six years of age, 
of admirable figure and countenance, borne in a 
chair palanquin upon the shoulders of four of his 
warriors. A thousand soldiers, in their most gaudy 



26o FERDINAND DE SOTO. - 

attire, composed his train. As they drew near, with 
the music of well-played flutes, with regular tread, 
their mantles and plumes waving in the breeze, all 
the Spaniards were alike impressed with the beauty 
of the spectacle. The chief himself was decorated 
with a mantle of rich furs gracefully thrown over his 
shoulders. His diadem was of plumes very bril- 
liantly colored. He addressed De Soto in the fol- 
lowing speech : 

" Mighty chief, above all others of the earth. 
Although I come now to receive you, yet I received 
you many days ago deep in my heart. If I had the 
whole world it would not give me as much pleasure as 
I now enjoy at the presence of yourself and your in- 
comparable warriors. My person, lands, and sub- 
jects are at your service. I will now march you to 
your quarters with playing and singing."* 

De Soto made a suitable response. Then the 
two armies, numbering, with their attendants, more 
than two thousand men, commenced their march to- 
ward the town. The native chief was borne in his 
palanquin, and De Soto rode on his magnificent 
charger by his side. The royal palace was assigned 
to De Soto, and one-half of the houses in the town 
were appropriated to the soldiers for their lodgings. 

The town of Coosa, which consisted of five hun- 
* Portuguese Narrative, p. 719. 



• THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 26 1 

dred houses, was situated on the east bank of the 
river of the same name, between two creeks now 
known as Talladega and Tallasehatchee. During a 
residence of twelve days in this delightful retreat, 
some slight disturbance arose between some of the 
natives and some of the Spanish soldiers. It was, 
however, easily quelled by the prudence and friendly 
disposition of the chief and the Governor. Indeed, 
the native chief became so attached to De Soto as 
to urge him to establish his colony there. Or if he 
could not consent to that arrangement, at least to 
spend the winter with him. 

'* But De Soto," writes Mr. Irving, " was anxious 
to arrive at the bay of Achusi, where he had ap- 
pointed Captain Diego Maldonado to meet him in 
the autumn. Since leaving the province of Xuala 
he had merely made a bend through the country, 
and was now striking southerly for the sea-coast.'' 

On the 20th of August the Spanish army, after 
having spent twenty-five days at Coosa, was again 
in movement. The chief of Coosa, and a large body 
of his warriors, accompanied De Soto to their fron- 
tiers, evidently as a friendly retinue. The Portuguese 
Narrative makes the incredible assertion that they 
were all prisoners, compelled to follow the army for 
its protection and as guides. With much more 
probability it is represented that one of the chief's 



2J2 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

subordinate officers on the frontier was in a state of 
insurrection, and that upon that account the chief 
gladly accompanied the Spaniards, hoping to over- 
awe his refractory subjects by appearing among 
them with such formidable allies. 

The Spaniards now entered the territory' of Tus- 
caloosa, who was the most warlike and powerful 
chieftain of all the southern tribes. His domain 
comprised nearly the whole of the present States of 
Alabama and Mississippi. The Tuscaloosa, or Black 
Warrior river, flowed through one of the richest of 
his valleys. Though there were no mails or tele- 
graphs in those da}'s, Indian runners conveyed all 
important intelligence with very considerable rapid- 
ity. The chief had heard of the approach of the 
Spaniards, and the annalists of those days say, we 
know not with what authority, that he hesitated 
whether to receive them as friends or foes. What- 
ever may have been his secret thoughts, he certainly 
sent his son, a young man of eighteen, with a reti- 
nue of warriors, to meet De Soto with proffers of 
friendship. 

The young ambassador was a splendid specimen 
of manhood, being taller than any Spaniard or In- 
dian in the army, and admirably formed for both 
strength and agility. In his bearing he was self-pos- 
sessed and courteous, appearing like a gentleman 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 263 

accustomed to polished society. De Soto was much 
impressed by his appearance and princely manners. 
He received him with the utmost kindness, made 
him several valuable presents, and dismissed him 
with friendly messages to his father, stating that he 
cordially accepted of his friendship, and would 
shorly visit him. 

De Soto then crossed the fiver Tuscaloosa, or 
Black Warrior, having first taken an affectionate leave 
of the Cacique of Coosa, who had accompanied him to 
this frontier river. A journey of two days brought 
the Spaniards to within six miles of the large village 
where the chief of Tuscaloosa was awaiting their 
arrival. As they reached this spot in the evening, 
they encamped for the night in a pleasant grove. 
Early the next morning De Soto sent forward a 
courier to apprise the chief of his arrival, and set out 
soon after himself, accompanied by a suitable retinue 
of horsemen. 

The chief had, however, by his own scouts, kept 
himself informed of every movement of the Span- 
iards. He had repaired with a hundred of his no- 
bles, and a large band of warriors, to the summit of 
a hill, over which the route of the Spaniards led, and 
which commanded a magnificent prospect of the 
country for many leagues around. He was seated 
on a chair of state, and a canopy of parti-colored 



264 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

• 

deer-skin, very softly tanned, and somewhat resem- 
bling a large umbrella, was held over his head. His 
chief men were arranged respectfully and in order 
near him, while at a little distance his warriors were 
posted 'in martial bands. The whole spectacle, 
crowning the smooth and verdant hill, presented a 
beautiful pageant. 

The Cacique was about forty years of age, and of 
gigantic proportions, being, like his son, nearly a 
head taller than any of his attendants. He was 
well-formed, and his countenance indicated perfect 
self-possession, intelligence, and great firmness. The 
sight of the cavaliers approaching with their silken 
banners, their glittering armor, and bestride their 
magnificent steeds, must have been astounding in 
the highest degree to one who had never seen a quad- 
ruped larger than a dog. But the proud chief as- 
sumed an air of imperturbable gravity and indiffer- 
ence. 

One would have supposed that he had been ac- 
customed to such scenes from his childhood. He 
did not deign even to look upon the horsemen, 
though some of them endeavored to arrest his 
attention by causing the animals to prance and rear. 
Without taking the slightest notice of the cavaliers 
who preceded De Soto, his eye seemed instantly to 
discern the Governor. As he approached, the chief 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 265 

courteously arose, and advanced a few steps to meet 
him. De Soto alighted from his horse, and with 
Spanish courtesy embraced the chieftain, who, with 
great dignity, addressed him in the following words : 

" Mighty chief, I bid you welcome. I greet you 
as I would my brother. It is needless to talk long. 
Wliat I have to say can be said in a few words. 
You shall know how willing I am to serve you. I 
am thankful for the things you have sent me, chiefly 
because they were yours. I am now ready to com- 
ply with your desires." 

This interview, it is supposed, took place in the 
present county of Montgomery, Alabama. The 
whole party then returned to the village, De Soto 
and the chief walking arm in arm. A spacious house 
was assigned to De Soto and his suite by the side of 
that occupied by the Cacique. 

After a rest of two days in the village, enjoying 
the rather cold and reserved, but abundant hospital- 
ity of the chief, the Spaniards continued their 
march. The chief, either for his own pleasure or by 
persuasion, was induced to accompany him. The 
most powerful horse in the army was selected to 
bear his herculean frame ; and yet it is said that 
when the Cacique bestrode him his feet almost 
touched the ground. De Soto had made him a 

present of a dress and mantle of rich scarlet cloth 
12 



266 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

Thus habited and mounted, with his towering 
plumes, he attracted all eyes. The two chieftains 
rode side by side. Their route led through the 
counties of Montgomery, Lowndes, and the south- 
eastern part of Dallas, until they came to a large 
town called Piache, upon the Alabama river. This 
stream they passed on rafts of log and cane, proba- 
bly in the upper part of the county of Wilcox. The 
expedition then turned in a southerly direction, fol- 
lowing down the western bank of the Alabama 
through Wilcox county. 

The Indian chief continued proud and distant ; 
was observed to be frequently consulting with his prin- 
cipal men, and often dispatching runners in different 
directions. De Soto was led to suspect that some 
treachery was meditated. Two of the Spaniards, 
who had wandered a little distance in the woods, 
disappeared, and were never heard of again. It 
was suspected that they had been killed by the na- 
tives. The Cacique being questioned upon the sub- 
ject, angrily and contemptuously replied : 

" Why do you ask me about your people ? Am I 
their keeper? " 

These suspicions led De Soto to keep a close 
watch upon the chief. This was done secretly, 
while still friendly relations were maintained be- 
tween them. It was more than probable that the 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 267 

chief was himself a spy in the Spanish camp, and 
that he was treacherously gathering his powerful 
armies at some favorable point where he could effect- 
ually annihilate the Spaniards, and enrich himself 
with all their possessions of armor and horses. It 
was therefore a matter of prudence, almost a vital 
necessity, for De Soto to throw an invisible guard 
around the chieftain, that all his movements might 
be narrowly observed, and that he might not take to 
sudden flight. With him in their hands as a host- 
age, the hostility of his warriors might, perhaps, be 
effectually arrested. 

They were now approaching the town of Mobila, 
which was the capital of the Tuscaloosa kingdom. 
This town was probably situated at a place now call- 
ed Choctaw Bluff, on the north or western side of the 
Alabama river, in the county of Clarke. At that 
point the Spaniards were at a distance of about 
twenty-five miles above the confluence of the Ala- 
bama and the Tombigbee, and about eighty-five 
miles from the bay of Pensacola. The town was 
beautifully situated upon a spacious plain, and con- 
sisted of eighty very large houses ; each one of 
which, it was stated, would accommodate a thousand 
men. 

As they approached this important place, De So- 
to sent forward some very reliable couriers, to ob- 



268 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

serve if there were any indications of conspiracy. 
Early in the morning of the eighteenth of October, 
1540, De Soto with the advance guard of his army, 
consisting of one hundred footmen, all picked men, 
accompanied by the Cacique, entered the streets of 
Mobila. Mr. Irving gives the following interesting 
account of this important capital : 

" This was the stronghold of the Cacique, where 
he and his principal men resided. It stood in a 
fine plain, and was surrounded by a high wall, formed 
of huge trunks of trees driven into the ground, side 
by side, and wedged together. These were crossed, 
within and without, by others, small and longer, 
bound to them by bands made of split reeds and wild 
vines. The whole was thickly plastered over with a 
kind of mortar, made of clay and straw trampled to- 
gether, which filled up every chink and crevice of 
the wood-work, so that it appeared as if smoothed 
with a trowel. Throughout its whole circuit, the 
wall was pierced at the height of a man with loop- 
holes, whence arrows might be discharged at an en- 
emy, and at every fifty paces, it was surmounted by a 
tower capable of holding seven or eight fighting 
men." 

As De Soto and the chief, accompanied by the 
advance guard of the Spanish army, and a numer- 
ous train of Indian warriors, approached the walls, a 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 269 

large band of native soldiers, in compact martial ar- 
ray, and as usual gorgeously decorated, emerged 
from one of the gates. They were preceded by a 
musical band, playing upon Indian flutes, and were 
followed by a group of dancing girls, remarkably 
graceful and beautiful. As we have mentioned, De 
Soto, and the Cacique in his scarlet uniform, rode 
side by side. Traversing the streets, the whole 
band arrived in the central square. Here they alight- 
ed, and all the horses were led outside the walls to 
be tethered and fed. 

The chief then, through Juan Ortiz, the inter- 
preter, pointed out to De Soto one of the largest 
houses for the accommodation of himself and suite. 
Another adjoining house was appropriated to the 
servants and attendants. Cabins were also immedi- 
ately reared just outside the walls for the accommo- 
dation of the main body of the army. 

De Soto was somewhat anxious in view of this 
arrangement. It was effectually separating him 
from his soldiers, and was leaving the Cacique en- 
tirely at liberty. Some words passed between the 
chief and the Governor, which led to an angry reply 
on the part of the Cacique, who turned upon his 
heel and retired to his own palace. The main body 
of the army had not yet come up, and if the chief 



2/0 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

meditated treachery, the moment was very favor- 
able for an attack upon the advance guard only. 

Soon after the Cacique had left in an angry 
mood, one of the cavaliers whom De Soto had sent 
forward to examine into the state of affairs, entered 
with the announcement that many circumstances in- 
dicated a dark and treacherous plot. He said that 
more than ten thousand warriors, all evidently 
picked men, and thoroughly armed, were assembled 
in the various houses. Not a child was to be found 
in the town, and scarcely a woman, excepting the 
few dancing girls who had formed a part of the 
escort. 

The Governor was much alarmed by these tid- 
ings. He dispatched orders to all the troops who 
were with him to be on the alert, and to hold them- 
selves in readiness to repel an assault. At the same 
time he sent back a courier to inform Luis De Mos- 
coso, who was master of the Spanish camp, of the 
dangerous posture of affairs. Unfortunately, rely- 
ing upon the friendly spirit of the natives, he had 
allowed his men to scatter widely from the camp, 
hunting and amusing themselves. It was some time 
before they could be collected. 

De Soto, anxious to avert a rupture, wished to 
get the person of the Cacique in his power. They 
had been accustomed since they met to eat together. 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 2/1 

As soon as the attendants of the Governor had pre- 
pared some refreshments for him, he sent Juan Ortiz 
to invite the Cacique to join him in the repast. The 
interpreter was not permitted to enter the palace, 
but after a little delay, a messenger announced that 
the Cacique would come pretty soon. 

The Governor waited some time, and again sent 
Ortiz to repeat the invitation. Again the interpre- 
ter returned with the same response. After an- 
other interval of waiting, and the Cacique not 
appearing, Ortiz was sent for the third time. Ap- 
proaching the door of the palace, he shouted out, in 
a voice sufficiently loud to be heard by all within, 
" Tell the chief of Tuscaloosa to come forth. The 
food is upon the table, and the Governor is waiting 
for him." 

Immediately one of the principal attendants of 
the Cacique rushed out in a towering passion, and 
exclaimed : 

" Who are these robbers, these vagabonds, who 
keep calling to my chief of Tuscaloosa, ' come out ! 
come out ! ' with as little reverence as if he were one 
of them ? By the sun and moon, this insolence is no 
longer to be borne ! Let us cut them to pieces on 
the spot, and put an end to their wickedness and 
tyranny!" 

Uttering these words, he threw off his superb 



2/2 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

mantle of marten skins, and seizing a bow from the 
hands of an attendant, drew an arrow to the head, 
aiming at a group of Spaniards in the pubHc square. 
But before the arrow left the bow, a steel-clad cava- 
lier, who had accompanied the interpreter, with one 
thrust of his sword laid the Indian dead at his feet. 
The son of the dead warrior, a vigorous young sav- 
age, sprang forward and let fly upon the cavalier 
six or seven arrows, as fast as he could draw them. 
But they all fell harmless from his armor. He then 
seized a club and struck him three or four blows 
over the head with such force that the blood gushed 
from beneath his casque. 

All this was done in an instant, when the cava- 
lier, recovering from his surprise, with two sword- 
thrusts, laid the young warrior dead in his blood by 
the side of his father. It seemed as though instan- 
taneously the war-whoop resounded from a thousand 
throats. 

The concealed warriors, ten thousand in number, 
with hideous yells, like swarming bees, rushed into 
the streets. De Soto had but two hundred men to 
meet them. But these were all admirably armed, 
and most of them protected by coats of mail. He 
immediately placed himself at the head of his troops, 
and slowly retreating, fighting fiercely every inch of 
the way, with his armored men facing the foe, sue- 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 2/3 

ceeded in withdrawing through the gate out upon 
the open plain, where his horsemen could operate to 
better advantage. In the retreat five of the Span- 
iards were killed and many severely wounded, De 
Soto being one of the number. 

The Indians came rushing out upon the plain 
in a tumultuous mass, with yells of defiance and vic- 
tory. But the dragoons soon regained their horses, 
which had been tethered outside the walls, and 
whose bodies were much protected from the ar- 
rows of the natives ; and then, in a terrific charge, 
one hundred steel-clad men, cutting to the right 
hand and to the left, maddened by the treachery of 
which they had been the victims, plunged into the 
densest masses of their foes, and every sabre-blow 
was death to a half-naked Indian. The slaughter 
was awful. Brave as the Indians were, they were 
thrown into a panic, and fled precipitately into the 
town. 

In the retreat from the town, about twenty of the 
Spaniards had been cut off from their comrades, and 
had taken refuge in the house assigned to the Gov- 
ernor. Here they valiantly defended themselves 
against fearful odds. The bold storming of the 
place by the Spanish troops rescued them from their 
perilous position. But now all the warriors of both 
parties crowded together in the public square, fought 
12* 



274 FERDINAND DE SOTO, 

hand to hand with a ferocity which could not be sur- 
passed. Though the natives were far more numer- 
ous than their foes, and were equally brave and 
strong, still the Spaniards had a vast superiority 
over them in their bucklers, their impenetrable ar- 
mor, and their long, keen sabres of steel. 

De Soto, conscious that the very existence of 
his army depended upon the issue of the conflict, was 
ever in the thickest of the battle, notwithstanding 
the severity of the wound from which he was suffer- 
ing. At length, to drive his foes from the protec- 
tion of their houses, the torch was applied in many 
places. The timber of which they were built was 
dry almost as tinder. Soon the whole place was in 
flames, the fiery billows surging to and fro like a 
furnace. All alike fled from the conflagration. The 
horsemen were already upon the plain, and they cut 
down the fugitive Indians mercilessly. 

The sun was then sinking; Mobila was in ruins, 
and its flaming dwellings formed the funeral pyre of 
thousands of the dead. The battle had lasted nine 
hours. To the Spaniards it was one of the most 
terrible calamities. Eighty-two of their number 
were slain. Nearly all the rest were more or less 
severely wounded. Forty-five horses had been shot 
— an irreparable loss which all the army deeply 
mourned. 



THE DREADFUL BATTLE OF MOBILA. 2/5 

In entering the city, they had piled their camp 
equipage against the walls. This was all consumed, 
consisting of clothing, armor, medicines, and all the 
pearls which they had collected. The disaster to 
the natives was still more dreadful. It is estimated 
that six thousand of their number perished by the 
sword or the flames. The fate of the chieftain is 
not with certainty known. It is generally supposed 
that he was slain and was consumed in the flames of 
his capital. 

The situation of the Spanish army that night 
was distressing in the highest degree. They were 
hungry, exhausted, dejected, and seventeen hundred 
dangerous wounds demanded immediate attention. 
There was but one surgeon of the expedition who 
survived, and he was a man of but little skill. 

De Soto forgot himself and his wound in devo- 
tion to the interests of his men. Foraging parties 
were sent in all directions to obtain food for the suf- 
ferers, and straw for bedding. Here the army was 
compelled many days to remain to recruit from the 
awful disaster with which it had been so suddenly 
overwhelmed. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Days of Darkness. 

The Melancholy Encampment. — The Fleet at Pensacola. — Singular 
Resolve of De Soto. — Hostility of the Natives. — Beautiful Sce- 
— nery. — Winter Quarters on the Yazoo. — Feigned Friendship 
of the Cacique. — Trickery of Juan Ortiz. — The Terrible Battle of 
Chickasaw. — Dreadful Loss of the Spaniards. 

For twenty-three days the Spaniards remained in 
their miserable quarters, nursing the sick and the 
wounded. As nearly all their baggage had been 
consumed in the flames, they w^ere in a condition of 
extreme destitution and suffering. Parties, of those 
who were least disabled, were sent on foraging expe- 
ditions, penetrating the country around to a distance 
of about twelve miles. They found the villages de- 
serted by the terror-stricken inhabitants. But they 
obtained a sufficient supply of food to meet their 
immediate wants. In the thickets and ravines they 
found the bodies of many Indians, who had died of 
their wounds, and had been left unburied by their 
companions. They also found in many of the de- 
serted hamlets, wounded Indians, who could go no 
farther, and who were in a starving and dying con- 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 2// 

dition. De Soto kindly ordered that their wounds 
should be dressed, and that they should be fed and 
nursed just as tenderly as his own men. Several cap- 
tives were taken. De Soto inquired of them if 
another attack were meditated. They replied that 
all their warriors were slain ; that none were left to 
renew the battle ; that their chief had sent his son 
to watch the movements of the Spaniards, and had 
summoned his warriors from a great distance for 
their extermination. Nearly all were to be slain. 
The survivors were to be held as slaves. All their 
possessions and especially the magnificent animals 
they rode, were to be divided as the spoils of the 
conqueror. They said that their chief, upon the ar- 
rival of De Soto with his advance guard, was hold- 
ing a council with his officers, to decide whether 
they should immediately attack those who had al- 
ready arrived, or wait until the whole army was with- 
in their power. The passion and imprudence of one 
of their generals had precipitated the conflict. 

The loss of the natives was even greater than De 
Soto had at first imagined. The thousands of In- 
dian warriors who were within the spacious houses, 
shooting their arrows through windows, doors and 
loopholes, were many of them cut off from all es- 
cape, by the devouring flames. Bewildered, blinded, 



2/8 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

Stifled by the smoke, and encircled by the billowy 
fire, they miserably perished. 

While De Soto was thus encamped around the 
smouldering ruins of Mobila, he heard of the arrival 
of his fleet at Pensacola, then called the bay of Ach- 
usi. As he was but about one hundred miles from 
that point, an easy march of a few days would bring 
him to reinforcements and abundant supplies. The 
tidings of their arrival at first gave him great satis- 
faction. His determined spirit was still unvanquish- 
ed. He immediately resolved to establish his col- 
ony on the shores of Pensacola Bay, whence he could 
have constant water communication with Cuba and 
with Spain. Having obtained a fresh supply of mil- 
itary stores and recruits from the ships, he would 
lecommence his pursuit after gold. 

While one cannot but condemn his persistence 
in a ruinous course, the invincible spirit it develops 
wins admiration. Indeed if we accept the facts of 
the affair at Mobila, as above described, and those 
facts seem to be fully corroborated by a careful ex- 
amination of all the reliable annalists of those days, 
impartial history cannot severely condemn De Soto 
in that dreadful occurrence. But it cannot be denied 
that he would have acted much more wisely, had he 
followed the counsel of Isabella, previously given, 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 279 

and withdrawn from scenes thus fraught with vio- 
lence, cruelty and blood. 

As De Soto was conversing with some of his of- 
ficers, of his plan of still prosecuting his journey in 
search of gold, he was told, not a little to his dismay, 
that his soldiers would not follow him. It was said 
that they were all thoroughly disheartened, and anx- 
ious to return to their homes, and that immediately 
upon reaching their ships, they would insist upon re- 
embarking, and abandoning a land where they had 
thus far encountered only disasters. 

The thought of returning to Cuba an impoverish- 
ed man, having utterly failed in his expedition, sur- 
rounded by ragged and clamorous followers, and thus 
in disgrace, was to De Soto dreadful. Not making 
sufficient allowance for the difference in those re- 
spects between himself and his followers, he found 
it difficult to credit the representations which had 
been made to him. He therefore dressed himself in 
a disguise, and secretly wandered about by night 
among the frail huts of the soldiers, and soon found, 
by listening to their conversation, his worst fears con- 
firmed. It became clear to his mind that immedi- 
ately on his return to the ships, his present followers 
would disband and shift for themselves, while it 
would be in vain for him to attempt to raise another 
armv. 



28o FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

Speaking of the distress with which these consid- 
erations oppressed the mind of De Soto, Mr. Irving 
well says, referring in confirmation of his statement, 
both to the account given by the Portuguese Narra- 
tive, and that by the Inca : 

" Should his present forces desert him, therefore, 
he would remain stripped of dignity and command, 
blasted in reputation, his fortune expended in vain, 
and his enterprise, which had caused so much toil 
and trouble, a subject of scoffing rather than renown. 
The Governor was a man extremely jealous of his 
honor ; and as he reflected upon these gloomy pros- 
pects, they produced sudden and desperate resolves. 
He disguised his anger and his knowledge of the 
schemes he had overheard, but he determined to frus- 
trate them by turning back upon the coast, striking 
again into the interior, and never seeking the ships 
nor furnishing any tidings of himself, until he had 
crowned his enterprise gloriously by discovering new 
regions of wealth like those of Peru and Mexico. 

" A change came over De Soto from this day. He 
was disconcerted in his favorite scheme of coloniza- 
tion, and had lost confidence in his followers. In- 
stead of manifesting his usual frankness, energy and 
alacrity, he became a moody, irritable, discontented 
man. He no longer pretended to strike out any grand 
undertaking, went recklessly wandering from place to 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 281 

place, apparently without order or object, as if care- 
less of time and life, and only anxious to finish his 
existence." 

On the morning of the 15th of November, 1540, 
the troops, much to their consternation, received or- 
ders to commence their march to the north, instead 
of to the south. The established habits of military 
discipline, and the stern manner of De Soto, repelled 
all audible murmurs. Each soldier took with him 
two days' provision, which consisted mainly of roasted 
corn pounded into meal. It was not doubted that in 
the fertile region of that sunny clime they would 
find food by the way. But winter was approaching 
which, though short, would certainly bring with it 
some days and nights of such severe cold that an 
unsheltered army would almost perish. 

After traversing a very pleasant country for five 
days, without meeting any adventure of any espe- 
cial interest, they came to a river wide and deep, with 
precipitous banks, which is supposed to have been 
the Tuscaloosa, or Black Warrior. The point at 
which they touched this stream, upon whose banks 
they had already encamped, was probably near the 
present site of Erie, in Greene County. Here they 
found upon the farther banks of the river, a popu- 
lous village called Cabusto. De Soto as usual sent a 
courier with a friendly message to the chief, saying 



282 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

" that he came in friendship and sought only an un- 
obstructed path through his realms." 

The chief returned the defiant reply — 

" We want no peace with you. War only we 
want ; a war of fire and blood.'' 

As De Soto, troubled by this message, moved 
cautiously forward, he found an army of fifteen hun- 
dred natives drawn up on the banks of the stream to 
prevent the passage ; while the opposite banks were 
occupied by between six and seven thousand warri- 
ors, extending up and down the river for a distance 
of six miles. There was nothing for the Spaniards 
to do but to press forward. To turn back, in sight 
of their foes, was not to be thought of. After a 
pretty sharp skirmish, in which the Spaniards at- 
tacked their opponents, the natives sprang into their 
canoes, and some by swimming crossed the river and 
joined the main body of the Indians upon the oppo- 
site bank. 

Here they were obviously prepared, to make a 
desperate resistance. Night came on, dark and chill. 
The Spaniards bivouacked on the open plain, await- 
ing the morning, when, with but about seven hun- 
dred men, they were to assail eight thousand warri- 
ors, very strongly posted on bluffs, with a deep and 
rapid river flowing at their feet. The Indians gave 
the Spaniards no repose. During the darkness they 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 283 

were continually passing the river at different points 
in their canoes, and then uniting in one band, with 
hideous outcries assailing the weary travellers. The 
military genius of De Soto successfully beat them 
off through the night. He then intrenched himself 
so as to bid defiance to their attacks, and employed 
one hundred of his most skilful workmen in build- 
ing, under the concealment of a neighboring grove, 
two very large flat boats. 

Twelve days passed before these barges were fin- 
ished. By the aid of men and horses, they were 
brought to the river and launched. In the morning, 
before the dawn, ten mounted horsemen and forty 
footmen embarked in each boat, the footmen to ply 
the oars as vigorously as possible in the rapid pas- 
sage of the river to a designated spot, where the 
horsemen were immediately to spur their steeds up- 
on the shore, and with their sabres open a passage 
for the rest of the troops. De Soto was anxious to 
pass in the first boat, but his followers entreated him 
not to expose his life, upon which everything de- 
pended, to so great a peril. 

The moment the boats were dimly seen by the 
watchful natives, a signal war-whoop rang along the 
bank for miles. Five hundred warriors rushed to the 
menaced spot, to prevent the landing. Such a 
shower of arrows was thrown upon the boat that 



284 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

every man was more or less wounded. The mo- 
ment the bows touched the beach, the steel-clad 
horsemen plunged upon the foe, and cut their way 
through them with blood-dripping sabres. Other 
native warriors were however hurrying to the assist- 
ance of their comrades. In the meantime the 
boats had with great rapidity recrossed the river, and 
brought over another detachment of eighty men with 
De Soto himself at their head. After a sanguinary 
conflict the Spaniards obtained complete possession 
of the landing place. Though unimportant skir- 
mishes were kept up through the day, the remaining 
troops were without difficulty brought across the 
river. At nightfall not an Indian was to be seen. 
They had all withdrawn and fortified themselves 
with palisades in a neighboring swamp. 

The Spaniards found opening before them a 
beautiful and fertile country, well cultivated, with 
fields of corn and beans, and with many small vil- 
lages and comfortable farm-houses scattered around. 
They broke up their boats for the sake of the nails, 
which might prove of priceless value to them in 
their future operations. Leaving the Indians unmo- 
lested in their fortress, they journeyed on five days 
in a westerly direction, when they reached the 
banks of another large river, which is supposed to 
have been the Tombigbee. 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 285 

Here De Soto found hostile Indians arrayed on 
the opposite bank, ready to oppose his passage. 
Anxious to avoid, if possible, any sanguinary collis- 
ion with the natives, he tarried for two days, until a 
canoe had been constructed by which he could send 
a friendly message across to the chief. A single un- 
armed Indian was dispatched in the canoe with these 
words of peace. He paddled across the river, and 
as soon as the canoe touched the shore the savages 
rushed upon him, beat out his brains with their war- 
clubs, and raising yells of defiance, mysteriously dis- 
appeared. 

There being no longer any foe to oppose the 
passage, the troops were easily conveyed across on 
rafts. Unassailed, they marched tranquilly on for 
several days, until, on the i8th of December, they 
reached a small village called Chickasaw. It was 
pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence, embel- 
lished with groves of walnut and oak trees, and with 
streams of pure water running on either side. It is 
supposed that this village was on the Yazoo river, in 
the upper part of the State of Mississippi, about two 
hundred and fifty miles northwest of Mobile. 

It was midwinter, and upon those high lands the 
weather was intensely cold. The ground was fre- 
quently encumbered with snow and ice, and the 
troops, unprovided with winter clothing, suffered 



286 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

severely. De Soto decided to take up his winter 
quarters at Chickasaw, there to await the returning 
sun of spring. There appears to have been some- 
thing senseless in the wild wanderings in which De 
Soto was now persisting, which have led some to 
suppose that care, exhaustion, and sorrow had 
brought on some degree of mental derangement. 
However that may be, he devoted himself with 
great energy to the promotion of the comfort of his 
men. Foraging parties were dispatched in all direc- 
tions in search of food and of straw for bedding, 
while an ample supply of fuel was collected for their 
winter fires. 

There were two hundred comfortable houses in 
this village, and De Soto added a few more, so that 
all of his men were well sheltered. So far as we can 
judge from the narratives given, the native inhabit- 
ants, through fear of the Spaniards, had abandoned 
their homes and fled to distant parts. De Soto did 
everything in his power to open friendly relations 
with the Indians. He succeeded, through his scouts, 
in capturing a few, whom he sent to their chief laden 
with presents, and with assurances of peace and 
friendship. 

The Cacique returned favorable replies, and sent 
to De Soto in return fruit, fish, and venison. He, 
however, was very careful not to expose his person to 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 28/ 

the power of the Spaniards. His warriors, in gradu- 
ally increasing numbers, ventured to enter the vil- 
lage, where they were treated by De Soto with the 
.greatest consideration. He had still quite a large 
number of swine with him, for they had multiplied 
wonderfully on the way. The Indians, having had a 
taste of pork, found it so delicious that they began 
to prowl around the encampment by night to steal 
these animals. It is said that two Indians who were 
caught in the act were shot, and as this did not 
check the thievery, a third had both his hands 
chopped off with a hatchet, and thus mutilated was 
sent to the chief as a warning to others. 

It is with great reluctance that we give any cre- 
dence to this statement. It certainly is not sus- 
tained by any evidence which would secure convic- 
tion in a court of justice. It is quite contrary to the 
well-established humanity of De Soto. There can 
be no possible excuse for such an act of barbarity on 
the part of any civilized man. If De Soto were 
guilty of the atrocity, it would, indeed, indicate that 
his reason was being dethroned. 

The chief had taken up his residence about three 
or four miles from the village. Four of the Spanish 
soldiers one night, well armed, stole from their bar- 
racks, in direct violation of orders, and repairing to 
the dwelling of the Cacique, robbed him of some rich 



288 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

fur mantles, and other valuable articles of clothing. 
With that even-handed justice which has thus far 
characterized De Soto, he who had ordered two In- 
dians to be shot for stealing his swine, now ordered 
the two ringleaders in this robbery of the Indian 
chief to be put to death. 

The priests in the army, and most of the officers, 
earnestly implored De Soto to pardon the culprits. 
But he was inflexible. He would administer equal 
justice to the Indian and the Spaniard. The cul- 
prits were led into the public square to be beheaded. 
It so happened that, just at that time, an embas- 
sage arrived from the Cacique with complaints of the 
robbery, and demanding the punishment of the 
offenders. Juan Ortiz, the interpreter, whose sym- 
pathies were deeply moved in behalf of his com- 
rades about to be executed, adopted the following 
singular and sagacious expedient to save them : 

He falsely reported to the Governor that the 
chief had sent his messengers to implore the for- 
giveness of the culprits — to say that their offence 
was a very slight one, and that he should regard it 
as a personal favor if they were pardoned and set at 
liberty. The kind-hearted De Soto, thus delivered 
from his embarrassment, gladly released them. 

On the other hand, the tricky interpreter sent 
word to the Cacique that the men who had robbed 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 289 

him were in close imprisonment, and that they would 
be punished with the utmost severity, so as to serve 
as a warning to all others. 

Many circumstances led De Soto to the suspi- 
cion that the chief was acting a treacherous part ; 
that he was marshalling an immense army in the 
vicinity to attack the Spaniards ; that his pretended 
friendliness was intended merely to disarm suspicion, 
and that the warriors who visited the village were 
spies, making preparation for a general assault. In 
this judgment subsequent events proved him to be 
correct. 

Early in the month of March there was a dark and 
stormy night, and a chill north wind swept the bleak 
plains. The sentinels were driven to seek shelter ; 
no one dreamed of peril. It was the hour for the 
grand assault. Just at midnight the Cacique put 
his martial bands in motion. They were in three 
powerful divisions, the central party being led by the 
chief in person. These moccasoned warriors, with 
noiseless tread, stealthily approached their victims. 
Suddenly the air resounded with war-whoops, blasts 
of conch shells, and the clangor of wooden drums, 
rising above the roar of the storm, when the sav- 
aged, like spirits of darkness, rushed upon the de- 
fenceless village. They bore with them lighted 

matches, made of some combustible substance twist- 
13 



290 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

ed in the form of a cord, which, being waved in the 
air, would blaze into flame. The village was built of 
reeds, with thatch of dried grass. The torch was 
everywhere applied ; the gale fanned the fire. In a 
few minutes the whole village was a roaring furnace 
of flame. 

What pen can describe the scene which ensued 
of tumult, terror, blood, and woe ! What imagina- 
tion can conceive of the horrors of that night, when 
uncounted thousands of savages, fierce as demons, 
rushed upon the steel-clad veterans of Spain, not 
one of whom would ask for quarter ! every one of 
whom would fight with sinewy arm and glittering 
sabre to the last possible gasp. 

Nothing could throw the veteran Spaniards into 
a panic. They always slept prepared for surprise. 
In an instant every man was at his post. De Soto, 
who always slept in hose and doublet, drew his 
armor around him, mounted his steed ever ready, 
and was one of the first to dash into the densest of 
the foe. Twelve armored horsemen were immedi- 
ately at his side. The arrows and javelins of the 
natives glanced harmless from helmet and cuirass, 
while every flash of the long, keen sabres was death 
to an Indian, and the proud war-horses trampled the 
corpses beneath their feet. 

The fierce conflagration soon drove all alike out 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 29I 

into the plain. Many of the Spaniards could not 
escape, but perished miserably in the fire. Several 
of the splendid horses were also burned. Soon all 
were engaged hand to hand, fighting in a tumultu- 
ous mass by the light of the conflagration. There 
was, perhaps, alike bravery on either side. But the 
natives knew that if defeated they could flee to the 
forests ; while to the Spaniards defeat was certain 
death, or captivity worse than death to every one. 

De Soto observed not far from him an Indian 
chief of herculean strength, who was fighting with 
great success. He closed in upon him, and as he rose 
in his saddle, leaning mainly upon the right stirrup, 
to pierce him with his lance, the saddle, which in 
the haste had not been sufficiently girded, turned 
beneath him, and he was thrown upon the ground in 
the midst of the enemy. His companions sprang to 
the rescue. Instantly he remounted, and was again 
in the thickest of the foe. The battle was fierce, 
bloody, and short. So many of the horsemen had 
perished during their long journey that many of the 
foot soldiers were protected by armor. At length 
the savages were put to flight. Pursued by the 
swift-footed horses, they, in their terror, to add 
speed to their footsteps, threw away their weapons, 
and thus fell an easy prey to the conqueror. 

The Spaniards, justly exasperated in being thus 



292 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

treacherously assailed by those who had assumed 
the guise of friendship, pursued the fugitive so long 
as they could be distinguished by the light of the 
conflagration, and cut them down without any mercy. 
A bugle-blast then sounded the recall. The victors 
returned to an awful scene of desolation and misery. 
Their homes were all in ashes, and many of the few 
comforts they had retained were consumed. Forty 
Spaniards had been slain, besides many more 
wounded. Fifty horses had perished in the flames, 
or had been shot by the natives. Their herd of 
swine, which they prized so highly, and which they 
regarded as an essential element in the establish- 
ment of their colony, had been shut up in an enclo- 
sure roofed with straw, and nearly every one had 
perished in the flames. 

This disaster was the most severe calamity which 
had befallen them. Since landing at Tampa Bay, 
over three hundred men had fallen from the attacks 
of the natives. De Soto was thrown into a state of 
the deepest despondency. All hope seemed to be 
extinguished. World-weary, and in despair, he ap- 
parently wished only to die. Distress was all around 
him, with no possibility of his affording any relief. 
Sadly he buried the dead of his own army, while he 
left the bodies of the natives thick upon the plain, a 
prey for wolves and vultures. The smouldering 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 293 

ruins of Chickasaw were abandoned, and an encamp- 
ment was reared of logs and bark at a distance of 
about tliree miles ; where they passed a few weeks of 
great wretchedness. Bodily discomfort and mental 
despondency united in creating almost intolerable 
gloom. 

Terribly as the natives had been punished they 
soon learned the extent of the calamity they had in- 
flicted upon the Spaniards. Through their spies 
they ascertained their diminished numbers, witness- 
ed their miserable plight, and had the sagacity to 
perceive that they were very poorly prepared to 
withstand another attack. Thus they gradually re- 
gained confidence, marshalled their armies anew, and 
commenced an incessant series of assaults, avoiding 
any general action, and yet wearing out the Span- 
iards with the expectation of such action every hour 
of every night. 

In the daytime, De Soto sent out his horsemen 
to scour the country around in all directions for a 
distance often or twelve miles. They would return 
with the declaration that not a warrior was to be 
found. But before midnight the fleet footed savages 
would be swarming around the encampment, with 
hideous yells, often approaching near enough to 
throw in upon it a shower of arrows. Occasionally 
these skirmishes became hotly contested. In one 



294 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

of them forty Indians were slain, while two of the 
horses of the Spaniards were killed and two severely 
wounded. 

In their thin clothing the Spaniards would have 
suffered terribly from the severe cold of the nights, 
but for the ingenuity of one of their number, who 
invented a soft, thick, warm matting or coverlet 
which he wove from some long grass that abounded 
in the vicinity. Every soldier was speedily engaged 
in the manufacture of these beds or blankets. They 
were made several inches in thickness and about six 
feet square. One half served as a mattress, and the 
other folded over, became a blanket. Thus they 
were relieved from the cold, which otherwise would 
have been almost unendurable. 

The foraging parties succeeded in obtaining a 
supply of corn, beans, and dried fruit. Here De 
Soto was compelled to remain, to heal his wounded, 
for the remainder of the month of March. He was 
very anxious to escape from the hostile region as 
soon as possible. As an illustration of the scenes 
which were occurring almost every night during this 
sad encampment, we may mention the following. 

The night was cold and dark. The defiant war- 
cries of the savages were heard in all directions and 
no one could tell how great their numbers, or upon 
what point their attack would fall. Several camp- 



DAYS OF DARKNESS. 295 

fires were built, around which horsemen were assem- 
bled ready to meet the foe from whatever point, in 
the darkness, he might approach. Juan De Gusman 
was the leader of one of these bands. He was a 
cavalier of high renown. In figure, he was delicate, 
almost feminine, but he had the soul of a lion. 

By the light of the blazing fagots, he discerned a 
numerous band of Indians stealthily approaching. 
Leaping upon his horse, and followed by five com- 
panions, and a few armored footmen, he plunged in- 
to the midst of them. He aimed his javelin, at ap- 
parently the leader of the savages, a man of gigantic 
stature. The Indian wrenched the lance from his 
hand, seized him by the collar, and hurled him from 
his saddle to the ground. Instantly the soldiers 
rushed in, with their sabers, cut the savage to pieces 
and after a short conflict in which a large number of 
the natives were slain, put the rest to flight. 

It may seem strange that so few of the Spaniards 
were killed in these terrible conflicts, in which they 
often cut down hundreds and even thousands of 
their foes. But it should be remembered that their 
coats of mail quite eflectually protected them from 
the flint pointed arrows of the Indians. The only 
vulnerable point was the face, and even this was 
sometimes shielded by the visor. But the bodies of 
the natives, thinly clad, were easily cut down by the 
steel blades of the cavaliers. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The Discovery of the Mississippi. 

The Fortress of Hostile Indians. — Its Capture. — The Disastrous Con- 
flict. — The Advance of the Army. — Discovery of the Mississippi 
River. — Preparations for Crossing. — Extraordinary Pageants. — 
Unjustifiable Attack. — The passage of the River. — Friendly Re- 
ception by Casquin. — Extraordinary Religious Festival. 

On the first day of April, 1541, the army broke 
up its encampment, and again set out languidly on 
its journey to the westward. No sounds of joy were 
heard, for there was no longer hope to cheer. The 
indomitable energy of De Soto dragged along the re- 
luctant footsteps of his troops. The first day they 
travelled about twelve miles, through a level and fer- 
tile country with many villages and farm houses to 
charm the eye. At night they encamped beyond 
the territory of Chickasaw, and consequently suppos- 
ed that they would no longer be molested, by those 
hostile Indians. 

A well armed party of cavalry and infantry was 
sent out on a foraging expedition. They accidently 
approached a strong fortress where a large number 
of Indian warriors was assembled, prepared to resist 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 29/ 

their march. They were very fantastically clothed, 
and painted in the highest style of barbaric art, so as 
to render them as hideous as possible. Immediately 
upon catching sight of the Spaniards they rushed out 
upon them with ferocious cries. Anasco, who was 
in command of the Spanish party, seeing such over- 
whelming numbers coming upon him, retreated to an 
open field, where he drew up his horses and placed 
his crossbow men in front with their bucklers, to 
protect the precious animals. At the same time he 
sent hastily back to De Soto for reinforcements. 

The Indians came rushing on, clashing their weap- 
ons, beating wooden drums and raisirig the warwhoop, 
till they arrived within reach of the arrows of the 
crossbow men. Then, somewhat appalled by the 
formidable military array of the Spaniards glittering 
in steel armor, they stopped and taunted their foes 
from the distance, with cries of defiance and gestures 
of insolence and insult. 

The hot-headed Auasco found it hard to restrain 
his impatience. Soon De Soto himself came, with all 
his force, except a few left to guard the camp. Care- 
fully he scrutinized the fortress where these savages 
had gathered their strength to crush him. It was in- 
deed a formidable structure : consisting of a quadran- 
gle twelve hundred feet square. There were three 

entrance gates, purposely so low that mounted men 
13* 



298 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

could not enter. In the rear of the fortress there 
was a deep and rapid river with steep banks, proba- 
bly the Yazoo ; in the county of Tallahatchee. The 
fort was called the Alabama. Across this stream, frail 
bridges were constructed, over which the Indians, in 
case of necessity, could retreat, and easily destroy the 
bridges behind them. Directly in the rear of the front 
entrance, there was a second wall, and in the rear of 
that a third ; so that if the outer wall were gained, 
the garrison could retreat behind one and the other. 

De Soto very carefully reconnoitred the fort. He 
judged that the slightest appearance of timidity, on 
his part, would so embolden the savages as to expose 
him to great peril. Should he avoid the conflict, to 
which he was challenged, and endeavor to escape, 
by fleeing before his enemies, he would draw them 
down upon him with resistless fury. Thus again he 
found himself impelled to rouse all the energies of 
his army for the slaughter of the poor savages. 

He formed his attacking force in three columns, 
to seize the three entrances. The Indians, carefully 
noting these preparations, made a simultaneous rush 
upon the Spaniards, pouring in upon them an inces- 
sant volley of flint-pointed arrows. Notwithstand- 
ing the armor, many of the Spaniards were wounded, 
the savages taking careful aim at those parts which 
were least protected. The three storming columns 



TPIE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 299 

pressed vigorously on, while two bands of horsemen, 
twenty in each, De Soto leading one of them, at- 
tacked the tumultuous foe on each flank. The as- 
sault was resistless. The panic-stricken savages fled 
to the fortress. The entrances were clogged by the 
crowd, and horsemen and footmen, with their long 
sharp sabres cut down their foes with enormous 
slaughter. 

In the heat of the conflict an arrow, thrown by 
the sinewy arm of an Indian, struck the steel casque 
of De Soto with such force that it rebounded some 
sixteen feet in the air. The blow was so severe that 
it almost unhorsed the Governor, and seemingly 
cau-sed, as he afterwards said, the fire to flash from 
his eyes. As the savages rushed pell-mell into the 
fortress, their pursuers were at their heels, cutting 
them down. The Spaniards were exasperated. 
They had sought peace, and had found only war. De 
Soto had wished, in a friendly spirit, to traverse their 
country, and they were hedging up his way and pur- 
suing him with relentless ferocity. He assumed that 
it was necessary, for the salvation of his army, to 
teach them a lesson which they would not soon for- 
get. 

The carnage within the fortress was dreadful. 
All was inextricable confusion. It was a hand-to- 
hand fight. Wooden swords fell harmless upon hel- 



300 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

met, cuirass and b'uckler. But the keen and polish- 
ed steel of the Spaniards did fearful execution upon 
the almost naked bodies of the Indians. Some 
climbed the palisades and leaped down into the 
plain, where they were instantly slain by the mount- 
ed troops. Others crowded through the fort and 
endeavored to escape by the narrow bridges. Many 
were jostled off, and in the swift current were drown- 
ed. But a few moments elapsed ere the fort was in 
the hands of the Spaniards. Its floor was covered 
by the gory bodies of the slain. Still, not a few had 
escaped, some by swimming, some by the bridges. 
They immediately formed in battle array upon the 
opposite bank of the river, where they supposed they 
were beyond the reach of the Spaniards. 

Again they raised shouts of defiance and insult. 
De Soto was not in a mood to endure these taunts. 
Just above the fort he found a ford. Crossing with 
a squadron of horsemen, they rushed with gleaming 
sabres upon the savages, and put them instantly to 
flight. For more than three miles they pursued them 
over the plain, till weaned with slaughter. They 
then returned, victors, slowly and sadly to their en- 
campment. Peace and friendship would have been 
far preferable to this war and misery. Even their 
victory was to the Spaniards a great disaster, for sev- 
eral of the men were slain, and many severely 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 30I 

wounded. Of the latter, fifteen subsequently died. 
De Soto remained four days in the encampment, 
nursing the wounded, and then resumed his weary 
ftiarch. 

He still directed his footsteps in a westerly di- 
rection, carefully avoiding an approach to the sea, 
lest his troops should rise in mutiny, send for the 
.ships, and escape from the ill-starred enterprise. 
This certainly indicates, under the circumstances, an 
unsound, if not a deranged mind. For four days 
the troops toiled along through a dismal region, un- 
inhabited, and encumbered with tangled forests and 
almost impassable swamps. 

At length they came to a small village called 
Chisca, upon the banks of the most majestic stream 
they had yet discovered. Sublimely the mighty flood, 
a mile and a half in width, rolled by them. The cur- 
rent was rapid and bore upon its bosom a vast 
amount of trees, logs, and drift-wood, showing that its 
sources must be hundreds of leagues far away, in the 
unknown interior. This was the mighty Mississippi? 
the ' father of waters.' The Indians, at that point, 
called it Chucagua. Its source and its embouchure 
were alike unknown to De Soto. Little was he 
then aware of the magnitude of the discovery he had 
made. 

" De Soto," says Mr. Irving, " was the first Euro- 



302 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

pean who looked out upon the turbid waters of this 
magnificent river ; and that event has more surely 
enrolled his name among those who will ever live in 
American history, than if he had discovered mines of 
silver and gold." 

The Spaniards had reached the river after a four 
days' march through an unpeopled wilderness. The 
Indians of Chisca knew nothing of their approach, 
and probably had never heard of their being in the 
country. The tribe inhabiting the region of which 
Chisca was the metropolis, was by no means as formi- 
dable, as many whom they had already encountered. 
The dwelling of the Cacique stood on a large artifi 
cial mound, from eighteen to twenty feet in height 
It was ascended by two ladders, which could of course 
be easily drawn up, leaving the royal family thus 
quite isolated from the people below. 

Chisca, the chieftain, was far advanced in years, a 
feeble, emaciate old man of very diminutive stature. 
In the days of his prime, he had been a renowned 
warrior. Hearing of the arrival of the Spaniards, he 
was disposed to regard them as enemies, and seizing 
his tomahawk, he was eager to descend from his cas- 
tle and lead his warriors to battle. 

The contradictory statements are made that De 
Soto, weary of the harassing warfare of the winter, 
was very anxious to secure the friendship of these 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 303 

Indians. Unless he were crazed, it must have been 
so, for there was absokitely nothing to be gained, 
but everything to be imperilled, by war. On the 
other hand, it is said that the moment the Spaniards 
descried the village, they rushed into it, plundering 
the houses, seizing men and women as captives. 
Both statements may have been partially true. It is 
not improbable that the disorderly troops of De So- 
to, to his great regret, were guilty of some outrages, 
while he personally might have been intensely anx- 
ious to repress this violence and cultivate only friend- 
ly relations with the natives. 

But whatever may have been the hostile or 
friendly attitude assumed by the Spaniards, it is ad- 
r"\itted that the Cacique was disposed to wage war 
against the new comers. The more prudent of his 
warriors urged that he should delay his attack upon 
them until he had made such preparations as would 
secure successful results. 

" It will be best first," said they, "to assemble all 
the warriors of our nation, for these men are well 
armed. In the meantime, let us pretend friendship 
and not provoke an attack until we are strong enough 
to be sure of victory." 

The irascible old chief was willing only partially 
to listen to this advice. He delayed the conflict, but 
did not disguise his hostility. De Soto sent to him 



304 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

a very friendly message, declaring that he came in 
peace and wished only for an unmolested march 
through his country. The Cacique returned an an- 
gry reply, refusing all courteous intercourse. 

The Spaniards had been but three hours in the 
village when, to their surprise, they perceived an 
army of four thousand warriors, thoroughly prepared 
for battle, gathered around the mound upon which 
was reared the dwelling of the chief. If so many 
warriors could be assembled in so short a time, they 
feared there must be a large number in reserve who 
could be soon drawn in. The Spaniards, in their 
long marches and many battles, had dwindled away 
to less than five hundred men. Four thousand 
against five hundred were fearful odds ; and yet the 
number of their foes might speedily be doubled or 
even quadrupled. In addition to this, the plains 
around the city were exceedingly unfavorable for the 
movements of the Spanish army, while they present- 
ed great advantages to the nimble-footed natives, for 
the region was covered with forests, sluggish streams 
and bogs. 

By great exertions, De Soto succeeded in effect- 
ing a sort of compromise. The Cacique consented 
to allow the Spaniards to remain for six days in the 
village to nurse the sick and the wounded. Food 
was to be furnished them by the Cacique. At the 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 305 

end of six days the Spaniards were to leave, abstain- 
ing entirely from pillage, from injuring the crops, 
and from all other acts of violence. 

The Cacique and all the inhabitants of the village 
abandoned the place, leaving it to the sole occupancy 
of the Spaniards. April, in that sunny clime, was 
mild as genial summer. The natives, with their 
simple habits, probably found little inconvenience in 
encamping in the groves around. On the last day 
of his stay, De Soto obtained permission to visit the 
Cacique. He thanked the chief cordially for his 
kindness and hospitality, and taking an affectionate 
leave, continued his journey into the unknown re- 
gions beyond. 

Ascending the tortuous windings of the river on 
the eastern bank, the Spaniards found themselves, 
for four days, in almost impenetrable thickets, where 
there were no signs of inhabitants. At length they 
came to quite an opening in the forest. A treeless 
plain, waving with grass, spread far and wide around 
them. The Mississippi river here was about half a 
league in width. On the opposite bank large num- 
bers of Indians were seen, many of them warriors in 
battle array, while a fleet of canoes lined the shore. 

De Soto decided, for some unexplained reason, to 
cross the river at that point, though it was evident 
that the Indians had in some way received tidings 



306 FERDINAND DE SOTO. • 

of his approach, and were assembled there to dispute 
his passage. The natives could easily cross the river 
in their canoes, but they would hardly venture to 
attack the Spaniards upon the open plain, where 
there was such a fine opportunity for the charges of 
their cavalry. 

Here De Soto encamped for twenty days, while 
all who could handle tools were employed in build- 
ing four large flat boats for the transportation of the 
troops across the stream. On the second day of the 
encampment, several natives from some tribe dis- 
posed to be friendly, on the eastern side of the river, 
visited the Spaniards. With very much ceremony 
of bowing and semi-barbaric parade, they approached 
De Soto, and informed him that they were commis- 
sioned by their chief to bid him welcome to his ter- 
ritory, and to assure him of his friendly services. 
De Soto, much gratified by this message, received 
the envoys with the greatest kindness, and dismissed 
them highly pleased with their reception. 

Though this chief sent De Soto repeated mes- 
sages of kindness, he did not himself visit the Span- 
ish camp, the alleged reason being, and perhaps the 
true one, that he was on a sick bed. He, however, 
sent large numbers of his subjects with supplies of 
food, and to assist the Spaniards in drawing the tim- 
ber to construct their barges. The hostile Indians 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 307 

on the opposite bank frequently crossed in their ca- 
noes, and attacking small bands of workmen, show- 
ered upon them volleys of arrows, and fled again to 
their boats. 

One day the Spaniards, while at work, saw two 
hundred canoes filled with natives, in one united 
squadron, descending the river. It was a beautiful 
sight to witness this fleet, crowded with decorated 
and plumed warriors, their paddles, ornaments, and 
burnished weapons flashing in the sunlight. They 
came in true military style : several warriors stand- 
ing at the bows and stern of each boat, with large 
shields of buffalo hides on their left arms, and with 
bows and arrows in their hands. De Soto advanced 
to the shore to meet them, where he stood sur- 
rounded by his staff. The royal barge containing 
the chief was paddled within a few rods of the bank. 
The Cacique then rose, and addressed De Soto in 
words which were translated by the interpreter as 
follows : 

"I am informed that you are the envoy of the 
most powerful monarch on the globe. I have come 
to proffer to you friendship and homage, and to as- 
sure you of my assistance in any way in w^hich I can 
be of service." 

De Soto thanked him heartily for his offers, and 
entreated him to land, assuring him he should meet 



308 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

only the kindest reception. The following extra- 
ordinary account of the termination of this interview, 
a termination which seems incredible, is given in the 
''Conquest of Florida:'' 

" The Cacique returned no answer, but sent three 
canoes on shore with presents of fruit, and bread 
made of the pulp of a certain kind of plum. The 
Governor again importuned the savage to land, but 
perceiving him to hesitate, and suspecting a treach- 
erous and hostile intent, marshalled his men in order 
of battle. Upon this the Indians turned their prows 
and fled. 

" The cross-bowmen sent a flight of arrows after 
them, and killed five or six of their number. They 
retreated in good order, covering the rowers with 
their shields. Several times after this they landed 
to attack the soldiers, as was supposed, but the mo- 
ment the Spaniards charged upon them they fled to 
their canoes." 

If this account be true, the attack by the Span- 
iards was as inexcusable as it was senseless. At the 
end of twenty days the four barges were built and 
launched. In the darkness of the night De Soto 
ordered them to be well manned with rowers and 
picked troops of tried prudence and courage. The 
moment the bows touched the beach the soldiers 
sprang ashore, to their surprise encountering no re- 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 309 

sistance. The boats immediately returned for an- 
other load. Rapidly they passed to and fro, and 
before the sun went down at the close of that day, 
the whole army was transported to the western bank 
of the Mississippi. The point where De Soto and 
his army crossed, it is supposed, was at what is called 
the lowest Chickasaw Bluff. 

" The river in this place,'' says the Portuguese 
Narrative, " was a mile and a half in breadth, so that 
a man standing still could scarcely be discerned from 
the opposite shore. It was of great depth, of won- 
derful rapidity, and very turbid, and was always 
filled with floating trees and timber, carried down by 
the force of the current.'' 

The army having all crossed, the boats were 
broken up, as usual, to preserve the nails. It would 
seem that the hostile Indians had all vanished, for 
the Spaniards advanced four days in a westerly 
direction, through an uninhabited wilderness, en- 
countering no opposition. On the fifth day they 
toiled up a heavy swell of land, from whose summit 
they discerned, in a valley on the other side, a large 
village of about four hundred dwellings. It was situ- 
ated on the fertile banks of a stream, which is sup- 
posed to have been the St. Francis. 

The extended valley, watered by this river, pre- 
sented a lovely view as far as the eye could reach, 



3IO FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

with luxuriant fields of Indian corn and with (jroves 
of fruit trees. The natives had received some inti- 
mation of the approach of the Spaniards, and in 
friendly crowds gathered around them, offering food 
and the occupancy of their houses. Two of the 
highest chieftains, subordinate to the Cacique, soon 
came with an imposing train of warriors, bearing a 
welcome from their chief and the offer of his services. 

De Soto received them with the utmost courtesy, 
and in the interchange of these friendly ofifices, both 
Spaniards and natives became alike pleased with 
each other. The adventurers remained in this vil 
lage for six days, finding abundant food for them- 
selves and their horses, and experiencing in the 
friendship and hospitality of the natives, joys which 
certainly never were found in the horrors of war. 
The province was called by the name of Kaski, and 
was probably the same as that occupied by the Kas- 
kaskias Indians. 

Upon commencing anew their march they passed 
through a populous and well cultivated country, 
where peace, prosperity and abundance seemed to 
reign. In two days, having journeyed about twenty 
miles up the western bank of the Mississippi, they 
approached the chief town of the province where the 
Cacique lived. It was situated, as is supposed, in the 
region now called Little Prairie, in the extreme 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 3 II 

southern part of the State of Missouri, not far from 
New Madrid. Here they found the hospitable 
hands of the Cacique and his people extended to 
greet them. 

The residence of the chief stood upon a broad ar- 
tificial mound, sufficiently capacious for twelve or 
thirteen houses, which were occupied by his numer- 
ous family and attendants. He made De Soto a 
present of a rich fur mantle, and invited him, with 
his suite, to occupy the royal dwellings for their res- 
idence. De Soto politely declined this offer, as he 
was unwilling thus to incommode his kind enter- 
tainer. He, however, accepted the accommodation 
of several houses in the village. The remainder of 
the army were lodged in exceedingly pleasant bow- 
ers, skilfully, and very expeditiously constructed by 
the natives, of bark and the green boughs of trees, 
outside the village. 

It was now the month of May. The weather was 
intensely hot, and these rustic bowers were found to 
be refreshingly cool and grateful. The name of this 
friendly chief was Casquin. Here the army remain- 
ed for three days, without a ripple of unfriendly feel- 
ing arising between the Spaniards and the natives. 

It was a season of unusual drouth in the country, 
and on the fourth day the following extraordinary 
incident occurred : Casquin, accompanied by quite 



312 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

an imposing retinue of his most distinguished men, 
came into the presence of De Soto, and stepping 
forward, with great solemnity of manner, said to 
him, — 

" Senor, as you are superior to us in prowess and 
surpass us in arms, we hkewise believe that your God 
is better than our God. These you behold before 
you are the chief warriors of my dominions. We 
supplicate you to pray to your God to send us rain, 
for our fields are parched for the want of water." 

De Soto, who was a reflective man, of pensive 
temperament and devoutly inclined, responded, — 

" We are all alike sinners, but we will pray to God, 
the Father of mercies, to show his kindness to you.'' 

He then ordered the carpenter to cut down one 
of the tallest pine trees in the vicinity. It was care- 
fully trimmed and formed into a perfect, but gigan- 
tic cross. Its dimensions were such, that it required 
the strength of one hundred men to raise and plant 
it in the ground. Two days were employed in this 
operation. The cross stood upon a bluff, on the 
western bank of the Mississippi. The next morning 
after it was reared, the whole Spanish army was call- 
ed out to celebrate the erection of the cross, by a 
solemn religious procession. A large number of the 
natives, with apparent devoutness, joined in the fes- 
tival. 



THE DISCOVRRY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 313 

Casquin and De Soto took the lead, walking side 
by side. The Spanish soldiers and the native war- 
riors, composing a procession of more than a thou- 
sand persons, walked harmoniously along as brothers, 
to commemorate the erection of the cross — the sym- 
bol of the Christian's faith. The Cross ! It should be 
the emblem of peace on earth and good will among 
men. Alas ! how often has it been the badge of cru- 
elty and crime. 

The priests, for there were several in the army, 
chanted their Christian hymns, and offered fervent 
prayers. The Mississippi at this point is not very 
broad, and it is said that upon the opposite bank 
twenty thousand natives were assembled, watching 
with intensest interest the imposing ceremony, and 
apparently, at times, taking part in the exercises. 
When the priests raised their hands in prayer, they, 
too, extended their arms and raised their eyes, as if 
imploring the aid of the God of heaven and of earth. 

Occasionally a low moan was heard wafted across 
the river — a wailing cry, as if woe-stricken children 
were imploring the aid of an Almighty Father. The 
spirit of De Soto was deeply moved to tenderness 
and sympathy as he witnessed this benighted people 
paying such homage to the emblem of man's re- 
demption. After several prayers were offered, the 
whole procession, slowly advancing two by two, knelt 
14 



314 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

before the cross, as in brief ejaculatory prayer, and 
kissed it. All then returned with the same solem- 
nity to the village, the priests chanting the grand an- 
them, " Te Deum Laudamus." 

Thus more than three hundred years ago the 
cross, significant of the religion of Jesus, was planted 
upon the banks of the Mississippi, and the melody 
of Christian hymns was wafted across the silent 
waters, and was blended with the sighing of the 
breeze through the tree-tops. It is sad to reflect 
how little of the spirit of that religion has since been 
manifested in those realms in man's treatment of his 
brother man. 

It is worthy of especial notice that upon the night 
succeeding this eventful day clouds gathered, and 
the long-looked-for rain fell abundantly. The devout 
Las Casas writes : 

" God, in his mercy, willing to show these hea- 
then that he listeneth to those who call upon him in 
truth, sent down, in the middle of the ensuing night, 
a plenteous rain, to the great joy of the Indians." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Vagrant Wanderings, 

Trickery of Casquin. — The March to Capaha. — The Battle and its 
Results. — Friendly Relations with Capaha. — The Return Jour- 
ney. — The March Southward. — Salt Springs. — The Savages of 
Tulu. — Their Ferocity. — Anecdote. — Despondency of De Soto. 

It is painful to recall the mind from these peace- 
ful, joy-giving, humanizing scenes of religion, to bar- 
baric war — its crime, carnage, and misery. It is an 
affecting comment upon the fall of man, that far 
away in this wilderness, among these tribes that 
might so have blessed and cheered each other by 
fraternal love, war seems to have been the normal 
condition. After a residence of nine days in this 
village, beneath truly sunny skies, in the enjoyment 
of abundance, and cheered by fruits, flowers, and 
bird-songs, the Spanish army again commenced its 
march in the wild and apparently senseless search 
for gold. 

The Cacique, Casquin, was about fifty years of 
age. He begged permission to accompany De Soto 
to the next province, with his whole army in its best 
military array, and with a numerous band of attend- 



3l6 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

ants to carry provisions and to gather wood and fod- 
der for the encampments. De Soto cheerfully accept- 
ed this friendly offer. But he soon found that it was 
hatred, not love, which was the impelling motive ; 
that the chief was incited by a desire to make war, not 
to cultivate peace. The chief of the next province 
was a redoubtable warrior named Capaha. His ter- 
ritories were extensive ; his subjects numerous and 
martial. Time out of mind there had been warfare 
between these two provinces, the subjects of each 
hating each other implacably. 

Capaha had in recent conflicts been quite the vic- 
tor, and Casquin thought this a good opportunity, 
with the Spaniards for his powerful allies, to take 
signal vengeance upon his foe. Of this De Soto, at 
the time, knew nothing. 

The army commenced its march. There were 
five thousand native warriors who accompanied him, 
plumed, painted, and armed in the highest style of 
savage art. There were three thousand attendants, 
who bore the supplies, and who were also armed with 
bows and arrows. Casquin, with his troops, took the 
lead ; wishing, as he said, to clear the road of any 
obstructions, to drive off any lurking foes, and to 
prepare at night the ground for the comfortable en- 
campment of the Spaniards. His troops were in a 
good state of military discipline, and marched in well 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 317 

organized array about a mile and a half in advance 
of the Spaniards. 

Thus they travelled for three uneventful days, 
until they reached an immense swamp, extending 
back unknown miles from the Mississippi. This was 
the frontier line which bordered the hostile provinces 
of Casquin and Capaha. Crossing it with much diffi- 
culty, they encamped upon a beautiful prairie upon 
the northern side. A journey of two days through a 
sparsely inhabited country brought them to the more 
fertile and populous region of the new province. 
Here they found the capital of the Cacique. It was 
a well fortified town of about five hundred large 
houses, situated upon elevated land, which com- 
manded an extensive view of the country around. 
One portion of the town was protected by a deep 
ditch, one hundred and fifty feet broad. The higher 
portion was defended by a strong palisade. The 
ditch, or canal, connected with the Mississippi river, 
which was nine miles distant. 

Capaha, hearing suddenly of the arrival of so 
formidable a force, fled down the canal in a curve, to 
an island in the river, where he summoned his war- 
riors to meet him as speedily as possible. Casquin, 
marching as usual a mile and a half in advance, find- 
ing the town unprotected, and almost abandoned, 
entered and immediately commenced all the ravages 



3t8 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

of savage warfare. One hundred men, women and 
children, caught in the place, were immediately seiz- 
ed, the men killed and scalped, the women and boys 
made captives. To gratify their vengeance, they 
broke into the mausoleum, held so sacred by the In- 
dians, where the remains of all the great men of the 
tribe had been deposited. They broke open the cof- 
fins, scattered the remains over the floor and tramp- 
led them beneath their feet. 

It is said that Casquin, would have set fire to the 
mausoleum, and laid it and the whole village in ashes, 
but that he feared that he might thus incur the an- 
ger of De Soto. When the Governor arrived and saw 
what ravages had been committed by those who had 
come as his companions, friends and allies, he was 
greatly distressed. Immediately he sent envoys to 
Capaha on the island, assuring him of his regret in 
view of the outrages ; that neither he, nor his sol- 
diers, had in the slightest degree participated in them, 
and that he sought only friendly relations with the 
Cacique. 

Capaha, who was a proud warrior, and who had 
retired but for a little time that he might marshal 
his armies to take vengeance on the invaders, return- 
ed an indignant and defiant answer ; declaring that 
he sought no peace, but that he would wage war to 
the last extremity. 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 319 

* 

Again De Soto found himself in what maybe call- 
ed a false position. The chief Capaha and his people 
were exasperated against him in the highest degree. 
The nation was one of the most numerous and pow- 
erful oh the Mississippi. Should the eight thousand 
allies, who had accompanied him from Kaska, and 
who had plunged him into these difficulties, with- 
draw, he would be left entirely at the mercy of these 
fierce warriors. From- ten to twenty thousand might 
rush upon his little band, now numbering but about 
four hundred, and their utter extermination could 
hardly be doubtful. Under these circumstances he 
decided to attempt to conquer a peace. Still he 
made other efforts, but in vain, to conciliate the just- 
ly enraged chieftain. He then prepared for war. 
However severely he may be censured for this decis- 
ion, it is the duty of the impartial historian to state 
those facts which may in some degree modify the se- 
verity of judgment. 

A large number of canoes were prepared, in 
which two hundred Spaniards and three thousand 
Indians embarked to attack Capaha upon his island, 
before he had time to collect a resistless force of war- 
riors. They found the island covered with a dense 
forest, and the chief and his troops strongly intrench- 
ed. The battle was fought with great fury, the Span- 
ish soldiers performing marvellous feats of bravery. 



320 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

strength and endurance. The warriors of Capaha, 
who fought with courage equal to that of the Span- 
iards, and str-uck such dismay into the more timid 
troops of Casquin, that they abandoned their allies 
and fled tumultuously to their canoes, and swiftly 
paddled away. 

De Soto, thus left to bear the whole brunt of the 
hostile army, was also compelled to retreat. He did 
this in good order, axid might have suffered terribly 
in the retreat but for the singular and, at the time, 
unaccountable fact that Capaha withdrew his war- 
riors and allowed the Spaniards to embark unmolest- 
ed. It would seem that the sagacious chieftain, im- 
pressed by the wonderful martial prowess displayed 
by the Spaniards, and by the reiterated proffers of 
peace and friendship which had been made to him, 
and despising the pusillanimity of the troops of Cas- 
quin, whom he had always been in the habit of con- 
quering, thought that by detaching the Spaniards 
from them he could convert De Soto and his barKl 
into friends and allies. Then he could fall upon the 
Indian army, and glut his vengeance, by repaying 
them tenfold for all the outrages they had commit- 
ted. 

Accordingly, the next morning, four ambassadors 
of highest rank visited the Spanish encampment. 
De Soto and Casquin were together. The ambassa- 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 32 1 

dors bowed to De Soto with profound reverence, but 
disdainfully took no notice whatever of Casquin. 
The speaker then said, — 

"We have come, in the name of our chief, to im- 
plore the oblivion of the past and to offer to you his 
friendship and homage." 

De Soto was greatly relieved by the prospect of 
this termination of the difficulties in which he had 
found himself involved. He treated the envoys with 
great affability, reciprocated all their friendly utter- 
ances, and they returned to Capaha highly pleased 
with their reception. 

Casquin was very indignant. He did everything 
in his power to excite the hostility of De Soto 
against Capaha, but all was in vain. The Governor 
was highly displeased with the trick Casquin had 
played upon him, in setting out on a military expe- 
dition under the guise of an honorary escort. He 
despised the cowardice which Casquin's troops had 
evinced in the battle, and he respected the courage 
which Capaha had exhibited, and the frankness and 
magnanimity of his conduct. He therefore issued 
orders to his own and the native army that no one 
should inflict any injury whatever, either upon the 
persons or the property of the natives of the prov- 
ince. He allowed Casquin to remain in his camp and 

under his protection for a few days, but compelled 
14* 



322 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

him to send immedietcly home the whole body of 
his followers, retaining merely enough vassals for his 
personal service. 

The next morning Capaha himself, accompanied 
by a train of one hundred of his warriors, fearlessly 
returned to his village. He must have had great 
confidence in the integrity of De Soto, for by this 
act he placed himself quite in the power of the Span- 
iards. Immediately upon entering the village, he 
visited the desecrated mausoleum of his ancestors, 
and in silent indignation repaired, as far as possible, 
the injury which had been done. He then proceeded 
to the headquarters of De Soto. The Spanish Gov- 
ernor and Casquin were seated together. 

Capaha was about twenty-six years of age, of very 
fine person and of frank and winning manners. With 
great cordiality he approached De Soto, reiterating 
his proffers of friendship, and his earnest desire that 
kindly feelings should be cherished between them. 
Casquin he -treated with utter disdain, paying no 
more attention to him than if he had not been pres- 
ent. For some time the Indian Cacique and the 
Spanish Governor conversed together with perfect 
frankness and cordiality. A slight pause occurring in 
their discourse, Capaha fixed his eyes sternly for a 
moment upon Casquin and said, in tones of strong 
indignation, — 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 323 

" You, Casquin, undoubtedly exult in the thought 
that you have revenged your past defeats. This you 
never could have done through your own strength. 
You are indebted to these strangers for what you 
have accomplished. Soon they will go on their way. 
But we shall be left in this country as we were be- 
fore. We shall then meet again. Pray to the gods 
that they may send us good weather." 

De Soto humanely did everything in his power 
to promote reconciliation between the "hostile chief- 
tains. But all was in vain. Though they treated 
each other with civility, he observed frequent inter- 
changes of angry glances. 

The Spaniards found, in this town, a great variety 
of valuable skins of deer, panthers, buffalo and bears. 
Taught by the Indians, the Spaniards made them- 
selves very comfortable moccasons of deerskin, and 
also strong bucklers, impervious to arrows, of buffalo 
hide. 

After making minute and anxious inquiries for 
gold, and ascertaining that there was none to be 
found in that direction, De Soto turned his despond- 
ing steps backwards to Kaska. Here he remained 
for four days, preparing for a march to the south- 
ward. He then continued his progress nine days 
down the western bank of the river, until, on the 
fourth of August, he reached a province called Qui- 



324 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

gate. His path had led him through a populous 
country, but the Indians made no attempt to molest 
his movements. It is supposed that Quigate must 
have been on the White river, about forty or fifty 
miles from its mouth. Here De Soto learned that, 
faraway in the northwest there was a range of moun- 
tains, and there he thought might perhaps be the 
gold region of which he had so long been in search. 

Immediately he put his soldiers in motion, led by 
a hope which was probably rejected by every mind 
in the army, except his own. A single Indian guide 
led them on a weary tramp for many days, through 
dreary morasses and tangled forests. They at length 
came to a village called Coligoa, which is supposed 
to have been upon the banks of White river. The 
natives at firs* fled in terror at their approach, but as 
no hostility was manifested by the Spaniards, they 
soon gained confidence, and returned with kind 
words and presents. But there was no gold there, 
and no visions of gold in the distance. 

The chief informed De Soto that there was a very 
rich and populous province about thirty miles to the 
south, where the inhabitants were in the enjoyment 
of a great abundance of the good things of life. 
Again the Spaniards took up their line of march in 
that direction. They found a fertile and quite thick- 
ly inhabited country on their route. The Indians 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 325 

were friendly, and seemed to have attained a degree 
of civilization superior to that of most of the tribes 
they had as yet visited. The walls of the better 
class of houses were hung with deer-skins, so softly 
tanned and colored that they resembled beautiful 
tapestry. The floors were also neatly carpeted with 
richly decorated skins. 

The Spaniards seem to have travelled very slowly, 
for nine days were occupied in reaching Tanico, in 
the Cayas country, which was situated probably up- 
on Saline river, a branch of the Washita. Here they 
found some salt springs, and remained several days 
to obtain a supply of salt, of which they were greatly 
in need. Turning their steps towards the west, still 
groping blindly, hunting for gold, they journeyed 
four days through a barren and uninhabited region, 
when suddenly they emerged upon a wide and 
blooming prairie. 

In the centre, at the distance of about a couple 
of miles, between two pleasant streams, they saw 
quite a large village. It was midday, and the Gov- 
ernor encamped his army in the edge of the grove, 
on the borders of the plain. In the afternoon, with a 
strong party of horse and foot, he set out upon a re- 
connoitering excursion. As he approached the vil- 
lage the inhabitants, men and women, sallied forth 
and attacked him with great ferocity. De Soto was 



326 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

not a man ever to turn his back upon his assailants. 
The Spaniards drew their sabres, and, all being in 
armor, and led by charges of the horsemen, soon put 
the tumultuous savages to flight, and pursued them 
pell-mell into the village. 

The natives fought like tigers from doors, win- 
dows, and housetops. The exasperated Spaniards, 
smarting with their wounds, and seeing many of their 
comrades already slain, cut down their foes remorse- 
lessly. The women fell before their blows as well as 
the men, for the women fought with unrelenting 
fierceness which the Spaniards had never seen sur- 
passed. Night came on while the battle still raged, 
with no prospect of its termination. De Soto with- 
drew his troops from the village, much vexed at hav- 
ing allowed himself to be drawn into so useless a 
conflict, where there was nothing to be gained, and 
where he had lost several valuable men in killed, 
while many more were wounded. 

The next morning De Soto put his whole army 
in motion and advanced upon the village. They 
found it utterly abandoned. Strong parties were 
sent out in all directions to capture some of the 
natives, that De Soto might endeavor to enter into 
friendly relations with them. But it seemed impossi- 
ble to take any one alive. They were as untamable 
and as savage as bears and wolves, fighting against 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 32/ 

any odds to the last gasp. Both women and men were 
exceedingly ill-looking, with shapeless heads, which 
were said to have been deformed by the compression 
of bandages in infancy. The province was called 
Tula, and the village was situated, it is supposed, be- 
tween the waters of the upper Wachita and the little 
Missouri. 

The Spaniards remained in the village four days, 
when suddenly, in the darkness of midnight, the war- 
whoop resounded from three different directions, and 
three large bands of native warriors, who had so 
stealthily approached as to elude the vigilance of the 
sentinels, plunged into the village in a simultaneous 
attack. Egyptian darkness enveloped the combat- 
ants, and great was the confusion, for it was almost 
impossible to distinguish friend from foe. The Span- 
iards, to avoid wounding ea^ other, incessantly 
shouted the name of the Virgin. The savages were 
armed with bows and arrows and with javelins, 
heavy, sharp-pointed, and nine or ten feet in length, 
which could be used either as clubs or pikes. Wield- 
ed by their sinewy arms, in a hand-to-hand fight, the 
javelin proved a very formidable weapon. 

The battle raged with unintermitted fury till the 
dawn of the morning. The savages then, at a given 
signal, fled simultaneously to the woods. The Span 
iards did not pursue them. Thoroughly armored as 



328 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

they were, but four of their number were killed, but 
many were severely wounded. It was nearly twenty 
days before the wounded were so far convalescent 
that the army could resume its march. The follow- 
ing incident illustrates the almost unexampled ferocity 
of these barbaric warriors: 

The morning after the battle a large number of 
the Spanish soldiers, thoroughly armed, were explor- 
ing the fields around the village, on foot and on 
horseback. Three foot soldiers and two mounted 
men were in company. One of them saw in a thicket 
an Indian raise his head and immediately conceal it. 
The foot soldier ran up to kill him. The savage 
rose, and with a ponderous battle-axe which he had 
won from the Spaniards the day before, struck the 
shield of the Spaniard with such force as to cut it in 
two, at the same tifhe severely wounding his arm. 
The blow was so violent and the wound so severe, 
that the soldier was rendered helpless. The savage 
then rushed upon another of the foot soldiers, and in 
the same way effectually disabled him. 

One of the horsemen, seeing his companions thus 
roughly handled, put spurs to his 5teed and charged 
upon the Indian. The savage sprang to the trunk 
of an oak tree, whose low hanging branches pre- 
vented the near approach of the trooper. Watch- 
ing his opportunity, he sprang forth and. struck the 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS, 329 

horse such a terrible blow with his axe as to render 
the animal utterly incapable of moving. Just at this 
moment the gallant Gonsalvo Sylvestre came up. 
The Indian rushed upon him, swinging his battle-axe 
in both hands ; but Sylvestre warded the blow so 
that the axe glanced over his shield and buried its 
edge deeply in the ground. 

Instantly the keen sabre of Sylvestre fell upon 
the savage, laying open his face and breast with a 
fearful gash, and so severing his right hand from the 
arm that it hung only by the skin. The desperate 
Indian, seizing the axe between the bleeding stump 
arnd the other hand, attempted to strike another 
blow. Again Sylvestre warded off the axe with his 
shield, and with one blow of his sword upon the 
waist of the naked Indian so nearly cut his body in 
two that he fell dead at his feet. 

During the time the Spaniards tarried in Tula 
many foraging excursions were sent out to various 
parts of the province. The region was populous and 
fertile, but it was found impossible to conciliate in 
any degree the hostile inhabitants. 

Again the soldiers were in motion. They direct- 
ed their steps towards the northwest, towards a pro- 
vince named Utiangue, which was said to be situated 
on the borders of a great lake, at the distance of 
about two hundred and forty miles. They hoped 



330 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

that this lake might prove an arm of the sea, through 
which they could open communications with their 
friends in Cuba, and return to them by water. The 
journey was melancholy in the extreme, through a 
desolate country occupied by wandering bands of 
ferocious savages, who were constantly assailing them 
from ambuscades by day and by night. 

At length they reached the village of Utiangue, 
the capital of the province. It was pleasantly situ- 
ated on a fine plain upon the banks of a river, 
which was probably the Arkansas. Upon the ap- 
proach of the Spaniards the inhabitants had aban- 
doned the place, leaving their granaries well stocked 
with corn, beans, nuts, and plums. The meadows 
surrounding the town offered excellent pasturage for 
the horses. As the season was far advanced, De 
Soto decided to take up his winter quarters here. 
He fortified the place, surrounding it with strong 
palisades. To lay in ample stores for the whole win- 
ter, foraging parties were sent out, who returned 
laden with dried fruits, corn, and other grain. 

Deer ranged the forests in such numbers that 
large quantities of venison were obtained. Rabbits 
also were in abundance. The Cacique, who k-ept 
himself aloof, sent several messengers to De Soto, 
but they so manifestly came merely as spies, and 
always in the night, that De Soto gave orders that 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 33 1 

none should be admitted save in the day-time. One 
persisting to enter was killed by a sentinel. This put 
an end to all intercourse between De Soto and the 
chief; but the Spaniards were assaulted whenever 
the natives could take any advantage of them on 
their foraging expeditions. 

Here the Spaniards enjoyed on the whole, the 
most comfortable winter they had experienced since 
they entered Florida. Secure from attack in their 
fortified town, sheltered from the weather in their 
comfortable dwellings, and with a sufficient supply of 
food, they were almost happy, as they contrasted the 
comforts they then enjoyed with the frightful suffer- 
ings they had hitherto experienced. During the win- 
ter, the expedition met with a great loss from the 
death of its intelligent interpreter, Juan Ortiz. In 
reference to his services, Mr. Pickett says : 

'' Understanding only the Floridian language, he 
conducted conversations through the Indians of dif- 
ferent tribes who understood each other and who at- 
tended the expedition. In conversing with the 
Chickasaws, for instance, he commenced with the 
Floridian, who carried the word to a Georgian, the 
Georgian to the Coosa, the Coosa to the Mobilian, 
and the latter to the Chickasaw. In the same tedi- 
ous manner the reply was conveyed to him and re- 
ported to De Soto.'' 



332 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

During the winter at Utiangue, the views and 
feehngs of the Governor apparently experienced quite 
a change. His hopes of finding gold seem all to have 
vanished. He was far away in unknown wilds, hav- 
ing lost half his troops and nearly all his horses. The 
few horses that remained, were many of them lame, 
not having been shod for more than a year. He 
did not hesitate to confess, confidentially to his 
friends, his regret that he had not joined the ships at 
Pensacola. He now despairingly decided to abandon 
these weary and ruinous wanderings, and to return to 
the Mississippi river. Here he would establish a 
fortified colony, build a couple of brigantines, send 
them to Cuba with tidings of safety to his wife, and 
procure reinforcements and supplies. It seems that 
his pride would not allow him to return himself a 
ruined man to his friends. 

With the early spring he broke up his canton- 
ment, and commenced a rapid march for the Missis- 
sippi. He had heard of a village called Anilco, at 
the mouth of a large stream emptying into that 
majestic river. They followed down the south side 
of the Arkansas river for ten days, when they crossed 
on rafts to the north or east side. It was probably 
the intention of De Soto to reach the Mississippi 
nearly at the point at which they had crossed it be- 
fore. 



VAGRANT WANDERINGS. 333 

Continuing his journey through morasses and 
miry grounds, where the horses often waded up to 
their girths in water, where there were few inhabi- 
tants, and little food to be obtained, he at length 
reached the village of Anilco, and found it to be on the 
northern bank of the Arkansas river. Here he learn- 
ed that, at the distance of some leagues to the south, 
there was a populous and fertile country such as he 
thought would be suitable for the establishment of 
his colony. Again he crossed the Arkansas river to 
the south side, and moving in a southerly direction 
reached the Mississippi at a village called Guachoya, 
about twenty miles below the mouth of the Arkan- 
sas river. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Death of De Soto. 

Ascent of the Mississippi. — Revenge of Guachoya. — Sickness of De So- 
to. — Affecting Leave-taking. — His Death and Burial. — The March 
for Mexico. — Return to tlie Mississippi. — Descent of the River. — 
Dispersion of tlie Expedition. — Death of Isabella. 

The village of Guachoya was situated on a bluff 
on the western bank of the Mississippi, and was 
strongly fortified with palisades. De Soto succeeded 
in establishing friendly relations with the chief, and 
was hospitably entertained within the town. The 
Cacique and Governor ate at the same table, and 
were served by Indian attendants. Still, for some un- 
explained reason, the Cacique with his warriors retir- 
ed at sunset in their canoes, to the eastern side of 
the Mississippi, and did not return till after sunrise 
the next morning. 

De Soto's great anxiety now was to get access 
to the ocean. But he could not learn that the Ca- 
cique had ever heard of such a body of water. He 
then sent Juan de Anasco with eight horsemen to fol- 
low down the banks of the river in search of the sea. 
They returned in eight days, having explored but 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 335 

about fifty miles, in consequence of the windings of 
the stream and the swamps which bordered its banks. 
Upon this discouraging information, the Governor de- 
cided to build two brigantines at Guachoya, and to 
estabHsh his colony upon some fertile fields which he 
had passed between Anilco and that place. This 
rendered it very important for him to secure abiding 
friendly relations with the chiefs of both of these 
provinces. 

The territory indeed upon which he intended to 
settle, was within the province of Anilco, and on the 
north bank of the Arkansas. The chief Guachoya, 
very kindly offered to supply De Soto with eighty 
large and many small canoes with which a portion 
of his force with the baggage could ascend the Mis- 
sissippi, twenty-one miles to the mouth of the Ar- 
kansas, and then ascending that stream about forty 
miles would reach the point selected for the settle- 
ment. The Governor and the chief, with united mili- 
tary force in light marching order, would proceed by 
land so as to reach the spot about the same time as 
the canoes. 

Four thousand Indian warriors embarked in these 
canoes, and in three days accomplished the voy- 
age. At the same time, the land forces commenced 
their march. The Cacique led two thousand war- 
riors, besides the attendants. Mr. Irving writes : 



33^ FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

" The two expeditions arrived safely at the time 
opposite the village. The chief of Anilco was ab- 
sent, but the inhabitants of the place made a stand 
at the pass of the river. Nufio Toba fell furiously 
upon them with a party of horse. Eager for the 
fight, they charged so heedlessly that each trooper 
found himself surrounded by a band of Indians. 
The poor savages, however, were so panic-stricken 
that they turned their backs upon the village, and 
fled in wild disorder to the forests, amid the shouts 
of the pursuers, and the shrieks and cries of the 
women and children. 

" On entering the conquered village, they massa- 
cred all they met, being chiefly old men, women and 
children, inflicting the most horrible barbarities. 

" In all this they acted in such fury and haste, 
that the mischief was effected almost before De Soto 
was aware of it. He put an end to the carnage as 
speedily as possible, reprimanded the Cacique se- 
verely, forbade any one to set fire to a house, or in- 
jure an Indian under pain of death, and hastened to 
leave the village, taking care that the Indian allies 
should be the first to pass the river, and none re- 
mained behind to do mischief." 

From this untoward enterprise De Soto returned 
to the village of Guachoya, renouncing all idea of es- 
tablishing his colony in Anilco. He immediately 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 337 

commenced with all energy building his two brigan- 
tines, while he looked anxiously about in search of 
some region of fertility and abundance, where his 
army could repose till the envoys should bring back 
a sufficient fleet to transport those to Cuba who 
should wish to return there, and could also bring 
those reinforcements and supplies essential to the 
establishment of the colony. The river at this point 
was about a mile and a half in width. The country 
on both sides was rich in fertility, and thickly inhab- 
ited. 

Upon the eastern bank there was a province call- 
ed Quigualtanqui, of which De Soto heard such 
glowing reports that he sent an exploring party to 
examine the country. By fastening four canoes to- 
gether, he succeeded in transporting the horses 
across the stream. To his disappointment he found 
the Cacique deadly hostile. He sent word to De 
Soto that he would wage a war of utter extermina- 
tion against him and his people, should they attempt 
to invade his territories. 

Care, fatigue and sorrow now began to show their 
traces upon the Governor. He could not disguise 
the deep despondency which oppressed him. His 
step became feeble, his form emaciate, his counten- 
ance haggard. A' weary, grief-worn pilgrim, he was 

in a mood to welcome death, as life presented him 
15 



338 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

nothing more to hope for. A slow fever aggravated 
by the climate, placed him upon a sick bed. Here, 
the victim of the most profound melancholy, he was 
informed that the powerful chief, Ouigualtanqui, was 
forming a league of all the neighboring tribes for the 
extermination of the Spaniards. De Soto's arm was 
paralyzed and his heart was broken. He had fought 
his last battle. His words were few ; his despon- 
dency oppressed all who approached his bedside. 
Day after day the malady increased until the fever 
rose so high, that it was manifest to De Soto, and to 
all his companions, that his last hour was at hand. 

Calmly and with the piety of a devout Catholic, 
he prepared for death. Luis De Moscoso was ap- 
pointed his successor in command of the army, and 
also the successor of whatever authority and titles 
De Soto might possess, as Governor of Florida. He 
called together the officers and most prominent sol- 
diers, and with the trembling voice of a dying man 
administered to them the oath of obedience to Mus- 
coso. He then called to his bedside, in groups of 
three persons, the cavaliers who had so faithfully fol- 
lowed him through his long and perilous adventures, 
and took an affectionate leave of them. The com- 
mon soldiers were then, in groups of about twenty, 
brought into the death chamber, and tenderly he 
bade them adieu. 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 339 

These war-worn veterans wept bitterly in taking 
leave of their beloved chief. It is worthy of record 
that he urged them to do all in their power to con- 
vert the natives to the Christian religion ; that he im- 
plored the forgiveness of all whom he had in any 
way offended ; and entreated them to live as broth- 
ers, loving and helping one another. On the seventh 
day after he was attacked by the fever, he expired. 

" He died " writes the Inca, " like a Catholic Chris- 
tian, imploring mercy of the most Holy Trinity, rely- 
ing on the protection of the blood of Jesus Christ 
our Lord, and the intercession of the Virgin and of 
all the celestial court, and in the faith of the Roman 
church. With these words repeated many times, he 
resigned his soul to God ; this magnanimous and 
never-conquered cavalier, worthy of great dignities 
and titles, and deserving a better historian than a 
rude Indian." 

Thus perished De Soto, in the forty-second year 
of his age. His life, almost from the cradle to the 
grave, had been filled with care, disappointment and 
sorrow. When we consider the age in which he 
lived, the influences by which he was surrounded, 
and the temptations to which he was exposed, it 
must be admitted that he developed many noble 
traits of character, and that great allowances should 
be made for his defects. 



340 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

The Governor had won the confidence and affec- 
tion of his army to an extraordinary degree. He was 
ever courteous in his demeanor, and kind in his treat- 
ment. He shared all the hardships of his soldiers, 
placed himself in the front in the hour of peril, and 
was endowed with that wonderful muscular strength 
and energy which enabled him by his achievements 
often to win the admiration of all his troops. His 
death overwhelmed the army with grief. They 
feared to have it known by the natives, for his re- 
nown as a soldier was such as to hold them in awe. 

It was apprehended that should his death be 
known, the natives would be encouraged to revolt, 
and to fall with exterminating fury upon the handful 
of Spaniards now left in the land. They therefore 
" buried him silently at dead of night." Sentinels 
were carefully posted to prevent the approach of any 
of the natives. A few torches lighted the procession 
to a sandy plain near the encampment, where his 
body was interred, with no salute fired over his grave 
or even any dirge chanted by the attendant priests. 
The ground was carefully smoothed over so as to ob- 
literate as far as possible all traces of the burial. 

The better to conceal his death, word was given 
out the next morning that he was much better, and 
a joyous festival was arranged in honor of his con- 
valescence. Still the natives were not deceived. 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 34I 

They suspected that he was dead, and even guessed 
the place of his burial. This was indicated by the 
fact that they frequently visited the spot, looking 
around with great interest, and talking together 
with much volubility. 

One mode of revenge adopted by the natives 
was to disinter the body of an enemy and expose 
the remains to every species of insult. It was 
feared that as soon as the Spaniards should have 
withdrawn from the region, the body of De Soto 
might be found and exposed to similar outrages. 
It was therefore decided to take up the remains and 
sink it in the depths of the river. 

In the night, Juan De Anasco, with one or two 
companions, embarked in a canoe, and, by sound- 
ing, found a place in the channel of the river nearly 
a hundred and twenty feet deep. They cut down 
an evergreen oak, whose wood is almost as solid 
and heavy as lead, gouged out a place in it suffi- 
ciently large to receive the body, and nailed over 
the top a massive plank. The body, thus placed in 
its final coffin, was taken at midnight to the cen- 
tre of the river, where it immediately sank to its 
deep burial. The utmost silence was preserved, and 
every precaution adopted to conceal the movement 
from all but those engaged in the enterprise. 

" The discoverer of the Mississippi," writes the 



342 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

Inca, " slept beneath its waters. He had crossed a 
large part of the continent in search of gold, and 
found nothing so remarkable as his burial-place." 

Upon the death of De Soto, a council of war was 
held to decide what to do in the new attitude of 
affairs. In their exhausted state, and with their 
diminished numbers, they could not think of at- 
tempting a march back for hundreds of leagues 
through hostile nations, to Tampa Bay. It would 
take a long time to build their brigantines and to 
await an arrival from Cuba. In the meantime there 
was great danger that they might be attacked and 
destroyed by the powerful league then forming 
against them. 

A rumor had reached them that a large number 
of Spaniards were in Mexico, not very far to the 
westward ; that they were powerful in numbers, con- 
quering all before them, and enriching themselves 
with the spoils of a majestic empire. It was conse- 
quently determined to march with all speed in that 
direction, and join this Spanish army in its career of 
Mexican conquest- 
Early in the month of June they commenced 
their march in a line due west. Their geographical 
knowledge was so limited that they were not aware 
that they were in a latitude far above the renowned 
city of the Montezumas. 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 343 

Day after day the troops pressed on, through 
many sufferings and weary marches. On the way, 
one of their number, Diego De Guzman, a very am- 
bitious young cavaher of high rank and wealthy con- 
nections, fell so passionately in love with the beauti- 
ful daughter of a Cacique that he deserted from the 
army to remain with her. She was but eighteen 
years of age, of very amiable spirit, and of unusual 
gracefulness of form and loveliness of feature. Mos- 
coso sent an embassy to the Cacique, demanding the 
return of Guzman as a deserter, and threatening, in 
case of refusal, to lay waste his territory with fire and 
sword. The chief sent back the heroic reply — 

" I have used no force to detain Diego De Guz- 
man. I shall use no force to compel him to depart. 
On the contrary I shall treat him as a son-in-law, 
with all honor and kindness, and shall do the same 
with any others of the strangers who may choose to 
remain with me. If for thus doing my duty you 
think proper to lay waste my lands and slay my peo- 
ple, you can do so. The power is in your hands.'' 

It would seem that this manly reply disarmed 
Moscoso, for the Spanish army continued its journey, 
leaving Guzman behind. Onward and still onward 
the weary men pressed, wading morasses, forcing 
their way through tangled forests, crossing rivers on 
rafts ; now hungry and now thirsty, again enjoying 



344 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

abundance ; sometimes encountering hostility from 
the natives, when they took fearful vengeance, apply- 
ing the torch to their villages ; and again enjoying 
the hospitality of the natives, until having traversed 
a region of about three hundred miles in breadth, 
they supposed they had reached the confines of 
Mexico. 

They had no suitable interpreters with them. 
The most contrary impressions were received from 
the attempts they made to obtain intelligence from 
the Indians. Lured by false hopes, they wandered 
about here and there, ever disappointed in their 
hopes of finding the white men. Entering a vast 
uninhabited region, they found their food exhausted, 
and but for the roots and herbs they dug up, would 
have perished from hunger. 

The Spaniards were in despair. They were lost 
in savage wilds, surrounded by a barbarous and hos- 
tile people, with whom, for want of an interpreter, 
they could hold no intelligible communication. They 
had now been wandering in these bewildering mazes 
for three months. Mountains were rising before 
them ; dense forests were around. They had proba- 
bly reached the hunting-grounds of the Pawnees and 
Comanches. It was the month of October ; winter 
would soon be upon them. A council of war was 
called, and after much agitating debate, it was at 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 345 

length decided, as the only refuge from perishing in 
the wilderness, to retrace their steps to the Missis- 
sippi. 

Forlorn, indeed, were their prospects now. They 
had made no attempt to conciliate the natives 
through whose provinces they had passed, and they 
could expect to encounter only hostility upon every 
step of their return. The country also, devastated in 
their advance, could afford but little succor in their 
retreat. Their worst fears were realized. Though 
they made forced marches, often with weary feet, 
late into the night, they were constantly falling into 
ambuscades, and had an almost incessant battle to 
fight. 

Before they reached the Arkansas river the severe 
weather of winter set in. They were drenched with 
rains, pierced with freezing gales, and covered with 
the mud through which they were always wading. 
Their European clothing had long since vanished. 
Their grotesque and uncomfortable dress consisted 
principally of skins belted around their waists and 
over their shoulders ; they were bare-legged. Many 
of them had neither shoes nor sandals ; a few had 
moccasons made of skins. In addition to all this, and 
hardest to be borne, their spirits were all broken, and 
they were sunk in despondency which led them to 
the very verge of despair. 
15* 



34^ FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

Every day some died. One day, seven dropped 
by the wayside. The Spaniards could hardly stop to 
give them burial, for hostile Indians were continually 
rising before, behind, and on each side of them. At 
length, early in December, they reached the banks 
of the Mississippi near the mouth of the Arkansas. 

The ncble army with which De Soto left Spain 
but three and a half years before, had dwindled away 
to about three hundred and fifty men ; and many of 
these gained this refuge only to die. Fifty of these 
wanderers, exhausted by hunger, toil and sorrow, 
found repose in the grave. Soon the survivors com- 
menced building seven brigantines to take them back 
to Cuba. They had one ship-carpenter left, and sev- 
eral other mechanics. Swords, stirrups, chains, cut- 
lasses, and worn out fire-arms, were wrought into 
spikes. Ropes were made from grass. The Indians 
proved friendly, furnishing them with food, and aid- 
ing them in their labors. 

The hostile chief of whom we have before spok- 
en, Quigualtanqui, on the eastern bank of the river, 
began to renew his efforts to form a hostile league 
against the Spaniards. He was continually sending 
spies into the camp. Moscoso was a merciless man. 
One day thirty Indians came into the town as spies, 
but under pretence of bringing presents of food, and 
messages of kindness from their Cacique. Moscoso 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 347 

thought he had ample evidence of their treachery. 
Cruelly he ordered the right hand of every one of 
these chiefs to be chopped off with a hatchet, and 
thus mutilated, sent them back to the Cacique as a 
warning to others. 

Moscoso, conscious of the peril of his situation, 
made the utmost haste to complete his fleet. It con- 
sisted of seven large barques, open save at the bows 
and stern. The bulwarks were mainly composed of 
hides. Each barque had seven oars on a side. 
This frail squadron was soon afloat, and the Governor 
and his diminished bands embarked. 

It was on the evening of the second of July, just 
as the sun was setting, when they commenced their 
descent of the majestic Mississippi, leading they 
knew not where. They had succeeded in fabri- 
cating sails of matting woven from grass. With 
such sails and oars, they set out to voyage over un- 
explored seas, without a chart, and without a com- 
pass. The current of the river was swift and their 
descent rapid. They occasionally landed to seize 
provisions wherever they were to be found, and to 
take signal vengeance on any who opposed them. 

It seems that the Indians, during the winter, had 
been collecting a fleet, manned with warriors, to cut 
off the retreat of the Spaniards. This fleet consist- 
ed of a large number of canoes, sufficiently capacious 



348 FERDINAND DE SOTO. • 

to hold from thirty to seventy warriors, in addition 
to from thirteen to twenty-four men with paddles. 
They could move with great rapidity. 

Two days after embarking, the Spaniards met 
this formidable fleet. The natives attacked them 
with great ferocity, circling around the cumbrous brig- 
antines, discharging upon them showers of arrows, 
and withdrawing at their pleasure. This assault, 
which was continued almost without intermission 
for seven days and nights, was attended by hideous 
yells and war-songs. Though the Spaniards were 
protected by their bulwarks and their shields, nearly 
every one received some wound. All the horses but 
eight were killed. 

On the sixteenth day of the voyage four small 
boats, containing in all fifty-five men, which had 
pushed out a little distance from the brigantines, 
were cut off by the natives, and all but seven perish- 
ed. The natives now retired from pursuing their 
foes, and with exultant yells of triumph turned their 
bows up the river and soon disappeared from sight. 

On the twentieth day they reached the Gulf. 
Here they anchored their fleet to a low marshy island, 
a mere sand bank, surrounded with a vast mass of 
floating timber. Again a council was held to decide 
what course was to be pursued. They had no nauti- 
cal instruments, and they knew not in what direction 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. 349 

to seek for Cuba. It was at length decided that as 
their brigantines could not stand any rough usage of 
a stormy sea, their only safety consisted in creeping 
cautiously along the shore towards the west in search 
of their companions in Mexico. They could thus run 
into creeks and bays in case of storms, and could oc- 
casionally land for supplies. 

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when they 
again made sail. There was much division of coun- 
sel among them ; much diversity of opinion as to the 
best course to be pursued ; and the authority of 
Moscoso was but little regarded. They had many 
adventures for fifty-three days, as they coasted slowly 
along to the westward. Then a violent gale arose, a 
norther, which blew with unabated fury for twenty- 
six hours. In this gale the little fleet became sepa- 
rated. The brigantines contained about fifty men 
each. Five of them succeeded in running into a lit- 
tle bay for shelter. Two were left far behind, and 
finding it impossible to overtake their companions, as 
the wind was directly ahead, and as there was danger 
of their foundering during the night, though with 
quarrels among themselves, they ran their two ves- 
sels upon a sand beach and escaped to the shore. 

Moscoso, with the five brigantines, had entered 
the river Panuco, now called Tampico. Here he 
found, to his great joy, that his countrymen had 



350 FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

quite a flourishing colony, and that they had reared 
quite a large town, called Panuco, at a few miles 
up the stream. They kissed the very ground for 
joy, and abandoning their storm-shattered brigan- 
tines, commenced a tumultuous march towards the 
town. • They were received with great hospitality. 
The Mayor took Moscoso into his own house, and 
the rest of the party were comfortably provided for. 

It is worthy of note that one of their first acts 
was to repair to the church to thank God for their 
signal deliverance from so many perils. They were 
soon joined by their shipwrecked comrades. They 
numbered only three hundred, and they resembled 
wild beasts rather than men, with uncut and un- 
combed hair and beard, haggard with fatigue, black- 
ened from exposure, and clad only in the skins of 
bears, deer, buffaloes, and other animals. Here 
their military organization ended. 

For twenty-five days they remained at Panuco ; 
a riotous band of disappointed and reckless men, 
frequently engaging in sanguinary broils. Gradu- 
ally they dispersed. Many of the common soldiers 
found their way to the city of Mexico, where they 
enlisted in the Mexican and Peruvian armies. Most 
of the leaders found their way back to Spain, broken 
in health and spirits. 

Many months elapsed ere Isabella heard of the 



DEATH OF DE SOTO. ^51"^ 

death of her husband, and of the utter ruin of the 
magnificent enterprise in which he had engaged. 
It was to her an overwhelming blow. Her heart 
was broken ; she never smiled again, and soon fol- 
lowed her husband to the grave. Sad, indeed, were 
the earthly lives of Ferdinand De Soto and Isabella 
De Bobadilla. We hope their redeemed spirits have 
met in that better land where the weary are at rest. 



THE END. 



Any Book on this List sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price. 
Remit by Check, Registered Letter, or Postal Money Order. 
We are not responsible for remittances made in bills or currency. 

CATALOGUE OF 
Standard & Miscellaneous Books 

Published by 

DoDD & Mead, 

762 Broadway, N. Y. 

New Books and New Editions marked thus f. 

♦ 
Abbott, John S. C. 

Early American Pioneers and Patriots. A series illus- 
trating the Early History and Settlement of America. Each in 
one volume, i2mo, fully illustrated and handsomely bound in 
black and gold; per vol ^ $1.50 

\st Daniel Boone and the Early Settlement of Kentucky . f 

2d Miles Standish, the Puritan Captain f 

2)d De Soto, the Discoverer of the Mississippi 

Other volumes to follow. (/« April. ) 

Abbott, Lyman . 

Laiciis ; or, The Experiences of a Layman in a Country \ 
Parish. By Lyman Abbott. i2mo 1.75 

BUNYAN 

Grace Abowtding to the Chief of Sinners. Being an 

Account of his ovra Life. By John Bunyan. i8mo, red edges, i.oo 

Clark. 

The Valley Kingdoms — Egypt and Assyria. By Rev. f 
E. L. Clark, author of " Daleth." With many beautiful illus- 
trations. (In preparation. ) 

Cruden. 

Cruden's Complete Concordance A Dictionary and Alpha- 
betical Index to the Bible. (The Unabridged Edition). By 
Alexander Cruden, A.M. 

Price in cloth, reduced from $4.00 to 2.75 

" "sheep, " " ." 5.00 to 3.50 

" " half morocco, " 6.50 to 4.50 

Gumming. 

Is C hristianity from God? A Mantial of Bible Evidence 
for tlie People. By Rev. John Cumming, author of the " Great 
Tribulation." iSnio, brown cloth extra 90 



DODD & MEAD S CATALOGUE. 

Charles, Mrs. 

Schonberg-Cotta Family i amo 1.50 

" " " Hampstead edition i.oo 

The Early Dawn. i2mo 1.50 

" " Hampstead edition i.oo 

Diary of Kitty Trevylyan 1.50 

" " " Hampstead edition i.oo 

Winifred Bertram 1.50 

" '• Hampstead edition i.oo 

The Draytons and the Davejiants 1.50 

" " " Hampstead edition i.oo 

On Both Sides of the Sea. 121110 1.50 

" «* " Hampstead edition i.oo 

The Victory of the Vanquished. 1 2 1110 i . 50 

" ♦• " Hampstead edition. i.oo 

Sets of the above in boxes. 

The \2jno edition, seven vols., ijicluding Victory, reduced 

to $10.50 

The New Uniform Edition. 

The Hampstead Edition, i6mo, illustrated, and bound in 

black and gold. Seven vols 7.00 

Mary, the Haiidmaid of the Lord. New edition, i8mo, 

red edges 1,00 

Poems. New edition, 1 8mo, red edges 1.25 

Watchwords for the Warfare of Life. Selected from the 

Writings of Luther, i2mo, bevelled boards 1.75 

Song Without Words. Cheaper edition 75 

Dana. 

Corals and Coral Lslands. By James D. Dana, Professor f 
of Geology in Yale College, author of a System of Mineralogy, 
&c. One vol., large 8vo, with colored frontispiece and three 
maps, and nearly 100 illustrations, cloth extra 6.00 

DOI.LINGER. 

Dr. J. J. /. Von Dollinger's Fables Respecting the Popes f 
in the Middle Ages. Translated by Alfred Plummer, together 
with Dr. DolUnger's Essay on tlie Prophetic Spirit and the 
Prophecies of the Christian Era. Translated for the American 
Edition, with Introduction and Notes to the whole work by 
Prof. H. B. Smith, D.D. One vol., large i2mo 2.25 

Lectures on the Reunion of the Churches. By J. J. I. "Von f 
Dollinger, D.D., U.C.L. Translated by Henry Nutcombe 
Oxenham, M. A. i2mo I. 50 



DODD & MEAD S CATALOGUE. 

Fish. 

History and Repository of Pulpit Eloquence, (Deceased 
Divines.) By Henry C. Fish, D. D. A new edition. Two 
volumes in one. 8vo, over 1,200 pages, with portraits. Cloth, 
extra bsvelled boards , $S-SO 

Pulpit Eloqiie'nce of the XlXth Century. With Seven large 

steel portraits. 8vo, cloth extra, bevelled boards 4->00 

Fenelon. 



Spiritual Progress or instructions itt the Divine Life of 
the Souly including Fenelon's Christian Counsel and Spiritual 
Letters, and Mme. Guyon's Short and Easy Method of Prayer, 
l2mo, red edges, levelled boards ^-S® 

Christian Counsel and Spiritual Letters. In a Separate 

volume. i8mo, red edges I.OO 

Daily Prayer Book. 

Daily Prayer Book, The. For the use of Families, with f 
additional Prayers for special occasions. Edited by John Stoughton, 
D. D. izmo, bevelled boards, red edges I.50 

Gray. 

Bible Lore. Chapters on the Rare Manuscripts, Various f 
Translations, and Notable Characteristics of the Bible. By 
James Comper Gray. One vol., izmo 1. 50 

Garrett. 

Premiums Paid to Experience. Incidents in my Business f 
Life, by Edward Garrett, author of " Occupations of a Retired 
Life," &c. 12 illustrations, i2rao. 1.75 

The Dead Sin, and other Stories. By Edward Garrett. f 
12 illustrations, i2mo ^-75 

The Occupations of a Retired Life. 12 illustrations, i2mo. 1.75 

The Crust and the Cake. 12 illustrations, i2mo 1.75 

Hare. 

Wanderings in Spain. By Augustus J. C. Hare, author f 
of •• Walks in Rome." Finely illustrated 3.00 

Hall. 

Papers for Home Reading. By Rev. John Hall, D. D., 

of New York. One elegant i2mo, with Portrait 1. 75 

Questions of the Day. By Rev. Joha Hall, D.D. One 

elegant I zmo 1. 75 



DODD & MEAD S CATALOGUE. 

HOWSON, 

The Character oj St. Paul By J. C. Howson, D. D., f 
one of the authors of Connybeare & Howson's St. Paul. iimo. 

Hood. 

Lamps, Pitcher:, and Trttmpets. Lectures on the Voca- * 

tion of the Preacher. Illustrated by Anecdotes, Biographical, 
Historical, and Elucidatorj', of every order of Pulpit Eloquence 
from the great Preachers of all Ages. By E. Paxton Hood. 
A New Edition, two series in one vol., i2mo $i-7S 

Jay. 

Prayers for the Use of Families. By William Jay, author f 
of " Morning and Evening Exercises,"' &c. A New Edition. 
l2mo tinted paper, reduced from $1.50 to i.oo 

Jenkins. 

Little Hodge. By the author of Ginx's Baby. Onevol. l2mo. 1.25 
Luchmee and Dilloo. A Novel. {In press.) 

Moffat. 

A Comparative History of Religions. By Jas. C. Moffat. t 
D. D., Professor of Church History in Princeton Theological 
Seminary. Onevol., i2mo. Part ist. The Ancient Scriptures.. 1. 75 

Macdonald. 

The Book' of Ecclesiastes Explained, Critically and Popu- 
larly^ by James M. Macdonald, D. D. izmo 1.75 

Manning, Anne. 

Maiden and Married Life of Mary Powell. 1.25 

Cherry and Violet. i8mo., red edges i.oo 

The Household of Sir Thos. More. i8mo, red edges 1.00 

The Faire Gospeller, Anne Askew. i8mo, red edges i.oo 

Jacques Bonncval: A Tale of the Huguenots. i6mo. . . . i.oo 

The Spanish Barber: A Tale of the Bible in Spain. i6mo. 125 

Marriage Certificates. 

Marriagj Certificates. From a beautiful and chaste steel 

engraving. On plate paper, per dozen i-OO 

On bank note paper, per dozen .' i-oo 

Mateer. 

The Land of Charity : A Descriptive Account of Tra- 

vancore and its Devil Worship. By Rev. F. S. Mateer, F. L. S. 
With over 50 illustrations. I2mn, fancy cloth 2.25 



DODD & MEAD S CATALOGUE 

PoRl-ER. 

The Sciences of Nature versus the Science of Man. By f 
Noah Porter, D.D., President of Yale College. One volume, 
i2mo $i.oo 

Parker. 

The Initiatory Catechism ; an Introduction to the Shorter 
Catechism, for Young Children. By Rev. Joel Parker, D.D. 
Per icx) 3.00 

Rowland. 

The Path of Life. By Rev. H. A. Rowland, D.D. 

iSmo 60 

Light in a Dark Alley. i8nio 

The Way of Peace. i2mo 

Raleigh. 

The Little Sanctuary and other Meditations. By Dr. f 
Alex. Raleigh, of London, author of " Quiet Resting Places." 
i2mo 1.75 

Rauch. 

Psychology ; or, a View of the Human Soul, including 

Anthropology. By Rev. F. A. Rauch, D.D. i2mo 1.75 

Roe. 

Barriers Burned Away. A Story. By Rev. E. P. Roe. f 
i2mo 1.75 

Spenoer. 

A Pastor's Sketches. By Rev. I. S. Spencer, D.D. A f 
New Edition, two vols, in one, large i2mo, with portrait, re- 
duced from $3- 50 to 2.00 

Sermons. Vol. i. — Practical 2.00 

" " 2. — Doctrinal 2.00 

" " 3. — Sacramental 2.00 

Any volume sold separately, 

Stretton, Hesba. 

Bede's Charity. A New Edition, with twelve illustra- f 
tions 1.50 

Max Kromer : A Story of the Siege of Strasburg. 

l6mo 75 

Nelly' s Dark Days. i6mo 75 

Hester Morlefs Premise. i2mo. (In press), f 



DODD & MEAD S CATALOGUE. 

Spring's Works, (Rev. Gardiner, D.D.) 

Attractions of the Cross. i2mo $i.oo 

T/ie Mercy Scat 1.75 

First Things. Two vols 3. 50 

Glory of Christ. Two Vols 3.cx) 

Short Sermons for the People i. 50 

Power of the Pulpit 1.75 

The Contrast. Two vols 3.00 

Obligations of the World to the Bible i. 50 

Smith. 

The Book that Will Suit You; or, a Word for Every 
One. By Rev. James Smith. 32mo, cloth extra, bevelled 
boards, red edges 1. 00 

Simmons. 

Scripture Manual. Alphabetically and Systematically , 
arranged. By Charles Simmons. Designed to facilitate the 
finding of proof texts. i2mo, cloth 1.75 

Tyti.kr. 

Margaret: A Story. By C. C. Fraser Tytler, author of f 
"Jasmine Leigh," Sic, &c. i2mo, twelve illustrations 1.75 

ViNET. 

Montaine and other Miscellafiies. By Ale.\. Vinet, D.D. 

l2mo 1.75 

Gospel Studies. By Alex. Vinet, D.D. 1 2mo 1.50 

Van Oosterzee. 

The Theology of the New Testament ; A Hand-Book for f 
Bible Students. By J. J. Van Osterzee, D.D., one of the authors 
of Lange's Commentary. Translated by Maurice J. Evans. 
One vol., i2mo 1.75 

WORI'-OISE. 

The Lillingstones of Lillingstone. By Emma Jane Wor- f 
boise. i2mo. Twelve illustrations 1.75 

World's T-aconics. 

World's Laconics, The. On the Best Thoughts of the 15cst 
Authors, in Prose and Poetry. By Tryon Edwards, D.Y>. 
i2mo, cloth extra 1. 75 

Weitbrecht. 

Miracles of Faith : A Sketch of the Life of Beate Paulus. f 
By Mary Weitbrecht. With an Introduction by Cha rles S. 
Robinson, D.D. i8mo, red edges 0.7S 















. .,'>■':■ '^ '■•»,'. ' -'-■ r,:_-l>i*.'A'^^:J: ■■'■■'■ ■■'-■■, •.^,?' 



:.4:.--<- 










' ' t§ tit f'-'-i.k*; ■ -;. .^v' . A- v 

jt,'-.A ; ■■■> . , i. . •• y, fi .•■."■: : 

»^>vi,:^.-;..v;v..:.-,.:^.:,'; 






?.^-' 























;*^ 



